Jerome, AR

Jerome is a quiet rural community along Highway 165 in southeastern Arkansas, set in the Delta countryside between Dermott and Montrose. While it gave up its municipal charter a few years back, it remains a small farming crossroads with deep ties to the nation's wartime past.

During World War II, the federal government built the Jerome War Relocation Center here, incarcerating nearly 8,500 Japanese Americans between 1942 and 1944. It was one of two internment camps established in Arkansas, and the grounds were later used to hold German prisoners of war. Today, open fields cover most of the old camp footprint, but a memorial monument stands nearby to mark the site and preserve its history.