A. Nakamura Co., prior to World War II, c. 1930-40
Buildings that were part of the Japanese American fishing village on Terminal Island are on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
The Nanka Shoten (1918) and A. Nakamura Co. (1923) buildings are the last remaining structures from Terminal Island, a community that once numbered around 3,000 residents. The buildings originally housed a dry goods store and a grocery.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, members of the Japanese American community on Terminal Island were forcibly removed, and most were ultimately incarcerated at Manzanar War Relocation Center. During the war, the U.S. government took over the land and razed most of the residential and commercial buildings, so community members could not return home after the war, and many resettled around Los Angeles.
Memorial to Japanese fishing village on Terminal Island.
Today, Terminal Island is one of the country’s busiest container ports, and the Port of Los Angeles is considering demolition of the Japanese American buildings in order to use the land for container storage. The two small buildings are deteriorating, having been vacant and boarded up for years.
After the entirety of Terminal Island was included on the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2012, the Terminal Islanders Association and the Los Angeles Conservancy worked with the port to include preservation and reuse recommendations in their master plan. However, the port is still considering demolition of the Nanka Shoten and A. Nakamura Co. buildings, despite a pending action to designate them as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments.
Tuna Street buildings on Terminal Island, c. 1941.
Advocates for saving the buildings on Tuna Street need attention and support to ensure protection and reuse of the Nanka Shoten and A. Nakamura Buildings in a way that honors their ancestors and commemorates this dark chapter of American history.
Other places on this year’s list: Cedar Key, Fla.; French Broad and Swannanoa River Corridors, Western North Carolina; Hotel Casa Blanca, Idlewild, Mich.; May Hicks Curtis House, Flagstaff, Ariz.; Mystery Castle, Phoenix, Ariz.; Oregon Caves Chateau, Cave Junction, Ore.; Pamunkey Indian Reservation, King William, Va.; San Juan Hotel, San Juan, Texas; The Turtle, Niagara Falls, N.Y.; The Wellington, Pine Hill, N.Y.
Now in its 38th year, the National Trust’s annual list of endangered historic places has proven to be a highly effective tool for shining a light on the threats facing the nation’s greatest treasures. Due to the efforts of the National Trust and its passionate supporters, the ongoing initiative has galvanized public support behind more than 350 sites to date with only a handful lost.
Nanka Shoten and A. Nakamura Co. buildings, Terminal Island
The 11 Most Endangered program uplifts and catalyzes community-led preservation work through a high-impact public awareness campaign resulting in increased visibility, public attention, and new resources to save and activate historic places for the public good.
This year’s list exemplifies how preservation is about creating something new, spotlighting efforts to repurpose historic buildings and activate them to serve their communities in new ways. The collection of places on this list also helps illustrate how resilience and recovery are intertwined with preservation and emphasizes the economic benefits that come with revitalization.
For more information: https://savingplaces.org/