Groundspeak Portal

Hi - rather new to Waymarking although I've been geocaching for around a year and half.  I have to say sometimes the number of categories is a bit overwhelming.

I'd like to submit a Waymark for a little known, out-of-the-way memorial, however, I'm not quite sure what category to put it in.  It's for a fishing village that used to exist on Terminal Island in Los Angeles harbor; during WWII nearly all of the residents were interned and the village was gone a few months later.  I don't think it quite fits under WWII POW camps, because it wasn't an internment camp.  It's called a memorial, but a memorial of a village, not specific people.  There is a statue of fishermen there, so I suppose I could list it under figurative sculpture, but is there something more fitting?  There was a category for tragic occurences, but they all seem to involve murders or terrible accidents.  Is there anything for memorials of places that I'm missing?

Thanks.

Welcome to Waymarking! It is an enjoyable past-time and a great compliment to Geocaching. Yes, the categories can be overwhelming at first, but like anything just take babysteps in the beginning. Maybe choose a category that interests you and see if there is anything close to where you live.

For the fishing village memorial, you may want to check if its on the National Register of Historic Places. Based on this website http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/5views/5views4h87.htm it looks like Terminal Island is part of the National Park Service, so they may have a passport cancellation station you could waymark.  Sorry, back to the statue... it could possibly go under occupational monuments like this one http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM4H6D_San_Pedro_Fishermens_Memorial, maybe "there's a book about it" (the book from the NPS) or maybe it was mentioned in the "american guide series". The Signs of History category might also take it. You could likely cross-post it under a statue/sculpture category at the very least.

Hopefully that didn't make you even more confused. :-) Maybe you could post a like to the picture/plaque and we can help narrow it down for you. For others lurking, is there another category I'm forgetting?

You could add this one to ghost towns.  My entry to ghost towns was another community that was cleared out during World War II for a different reason.  Mine was a memorial to the town also.  Also if there is a memorial plaque to fisherman with that statue of the fisherman then it could be placed in the occupational monuments.

@ dopeyduck - Thanks, here's a little background on the place: 

http://www.californiajapantowns.org/terminalisland.html

There's a picture of the statue on that page.

I'll check, but the memorial was only placed there in 2002, so I don't think it would be in the National Register of Historic Places.

@ BruceS - Thanks, can it be a ghost town if there's nothing left of it?  Actually, looking at the webpage I posted above, some buildings nearby are actually a part of it, maybe a separate waymark?  Funny, there's a restaurant  there, I've eaten at occasionally - I'm the only one of my coworkers that will.  Everyone else is afraid to, for some reason...

The monument should work under occupational monuments. Try that one first.

It looks like there were schools and churches there too. I think some of those categories (i.e. Former Schools) allow locations where the building no longer stands. If the Shinto Shrine or the Torii gate is still standing, it might work under Outdoor Altars, but I'm not very familiar with that category.

Hi & welcome,

You could also submit it to World War II Sites. http://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=2597eaed-763d-49b7-952f-b750e4188e1c . This would be the most appropriate category for your find, IMHO, but the others suggested would also be okay too. Ask any of us, we love cross-posting. I think BruceS still has the record of 15 categories for one location. Is that correct Bruce?

senoritafish:

@ BruceS - Thanks, can it be a ghost town if there's nothing left of it?  Actually, looking at the webpage I posted above, some buildings nearby are actually a part of it, maybe a separate waymark?  Funny, there's a restaurant  there, I've eaten at occasionally - I'm the only one of my coworkers that will.  Everyone else is afraid to, for some reason...

Yes, if all that is left is a memorial to the town it can be listed.  My listing in the ghost town category is just a memorial that lists the three downs which were bought out by the government to make a TNT plant for WW II.

The above suggestions are excellent and I will add more fuel to the fire.

Depending on the text, it might fit in the Disaster Memorials as a Sociological Disaster if its demise can be directly attributed to abandonment due to the internment camps and if there is text that states "In Memory of..." or similar. 

If the text simply states "Terminal Island Japanese Community used to be here" then it we would consider it a historical marker and should be submitted to the Signs of History Category for consideration (who may or may not accept it based on their criteria).

As an officer in the Ghost Towns category I can say that I feel it would be appropriate for the category given the history.

The WWII category that TF7 mentioned is a perfect cat for it as well.

dopeyduck:

If the Shinto Shrine or the Torii gate is still standing, it might work under Outdoor Altars...

There is a Torii Gate as part of the monument; it's not original but is modeled after the one at the shrine that used to be there.  Whether the monument itself is used as a place of worship I have no idea.  I had never even seen anyone else visit it until I went to check my coordinates last Sunday and there were two families visiting.

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions, I'll get to work on them.

Now I have another question - if one place is listed under several waymarks, what's the rule for visiting them? If you visit one, can you list a visit under all of the categories? 

Yep, a place/item can be waymarked under multiple categories (cross-posting), and a visitor can also visit all of those stacked WM's.  Also, you can visit the Seattle Space Needle today and log everything, then check the website a year later and log any new cross-postings.