Chinatowns are enclaves of Chinese people outside of China. The first Chinatown in the United States was San Francisco's Chinatown in 1848, and many other Chinatowns were established in the 19th century by the Chinese diaspora on the West Coast. By 1875, Chinatowns had emerged in eastern cities such as New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese immigration to the United States, but the Magnuson Act of 1943 repealed it, and the population of Chinatowns began to rise again.
Many historic Chinatowns have lost their status as ethnic Chinese enclaves due to gentrification and demographic shifts, while others have become major tourist attractions. New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have the largest Chinese populations in the United States, and the Chinatowns in New York City are some of the largest Chinese enclaves outside of Asia.
History
The earliest Chinatowns in the United States were founded on the West Coast during the 19th century, spurred on by the California Gold Rush. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 opened up new opportunities for Chinese people in the Southern United States. As Chinese immigrants started moving eastward, drawn by labor needs for the transcontinental railroad, newer Chinatowns emerged by 1875 in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Racial and labor tensions led to incidents such as the Rock Springs Massacre and Hells Canyon Massacre. In 1882, US President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law, which banned Chinese immigration into the United States.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the Magnuson Act in 1943, and Chinatown populations began to rise again.
Continuous demographic changes have drastically altered some Chinatowns. Large metropolitan areas such as New York City continue to see large-scale immigration from mainland China, while other Chinatowns are no longer the ethnic enclaves they once were.
Demographics
Most Chinatowns started as enclaves of ethnic Chinese people, but many of these Chinatowns have experienced gentrification and demographic shifts. While some Chinatowns have retained their status as ethnic Chinese enclaves, many have lost that status. The cities with the ten highest Chinese-American populations, according to the 2015 American Community Survey, were as follows New York City (549,181) San Francisco (179,644) Los Angeles (County) (including San Gabriel Valley core cities and CDPs (225,543), and in Los Angeles (city) an additional 77,284) San Jose (72,141) Honolulu (53,119) Chicago (51,809) San Diego (40,033) Philadelphia (35,732) Oakland (33,818) Houston (32,968)
By state Arizona
Phoenix
The Phoenix Chinatown started in the 1870s, and lasted until the 1940s, by which time the Chinese population had scattered throughout the city. Sources from a research project indicated that more than one Chinatown existed in Phoenix, with one around First Street and Madison Street, and a second at First Street and Adams Street at the present location of the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Mesa In the early 2000s, a stretch of Dobson Road in Mesa, one of Phoenix's southeastern suburbs, had developed with, , over 70 Asian-themed restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses on Dobson Road.
California Given its relative proximity to East Asia and Southeast Asia, California has the most historical and present Chinatowns of any U.S. state.
Eureka A Chinatown was founded in Eureka in the 1880s. It spanned a block at Fourth and E streets.
Fresno Fresno has a near-downtown neighborhood officially called Chinatown. Though it had a vibrant Chinese community in the early 1900s, most of its Chinese businesses and architecture are gone.
Greater Los Angeles area Anaheim Anaheim was the first incorporated city in Orange County. It was founded in 1857 by a group of German immigrants associated with the Los Angeles Vineyard Society. Initially, the settlers hired approximately sixty Mexican and Indigenous laborers to construct a six-mile irrigation canal connecting the Santa Ana River to their new wine-making enterprise. Dissatisfied with this workforce, the German settlers later traveled to San Francisco to recruit thirty Chinese laborers.
Amalie Frohling, an early Anaheim settler, wrote in her 1914 memoir that the Chinese workers were “industrious, peaceful, never drunk, and kept cleaner in body than the Indians.” Each Chinese laborer was compensated with a town lot, and these parcels later formed the spatial foundation of Anaheim’s early Chinatown.
Over time, Anaheim’s Chinese population grew to become the second-largest ethnic group in the city, after the German community. Chinese immigrants planted hundreds of thousands of grapevines, excavated the sixteen-mile Cajon Canal from the Anaheim Union Reservoir (now located within Tri-City Regional Park in Placentia), constructed some of Orange County’s earliest railroads, and worked extensively in the region’s agricultural fields. Several Chinese physicians provided medical care within Anaheim’s Chinatown, while others operated vegetable businesses and laundries, contributing to the city’s early economic and social development.
Despite these contributions, Anaheim’s Chinese community began to decline following the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This decline was further accelerated by anti-Chinese violence in Orange County and racially motivated boycotts of Chinese-owned businesses. After 1910, Chinese residents gradually left the area, and by 1935, only one Chinese resident remained in Anaheim.
Cerritos Cerritos is a majority Asian city located on the border of Orange County and Los Angeles County. There are significant Chinese-owned and operated businesses along South Street that continue into the neighboring city of Artesia.
Chino Hills Chino Hills is a suburban city located on the border of Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. It is growing as a continuation of the Chinese community in San Gabriel Valley and is known for its high-performing schools and clean environment.
Irvine Irvine is a suburban Chinatown in Orange County that is growing as more Chinese people move into the San Gabriel Valley. Many Chinese business establishments are situated in the El Camino Real and Walnut neighborhoods.
Little Saigon
Little Saigon is a district located in north-central Orange County. The majority of the population is Vietnamese. Many of the Vietnamese are of mixed Chinese origin, especially Cantonese, as many Chinese-Vietnamese families fled Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. Many of the older residents can still speak Cantonese, and Chinese-style restaurants are also common in the area, including Cantonese barbeque butchers. This area is centered on Westminster, Garden Grove, Midway City, and Fountain Valley, while also including a presence in the neighboring cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim, Stanton, and Huntington Beach.
Los Angeles
The present-day Chinatown in Los Angeles was founded in the late 1930s as the second Chinatown in the city. Formerly a "Little Italy," it is presently located along Hill Street, Broadway, and Spring Street near Dodger Stadium in downtown Los Angeles with restaurants, grocers, and tourist-oriented shops and plazas. A sculpture of dueling gold dragons spans Broadway and marks the entrance to Chinatown, with a statue honoring Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Kuomintang, adorning the northeastern section. The enclave contains Buddhist temples, a Chinese Christian church (with services conducted in Cantonese), and Thien Hau Temple, a temple dedicated to the Chinese goddess of the sea that caters to Chinese and Vietnamese worshipers. Chinatown is home to family and regional associations and service organizations for long-time immigrants, as well as ones founded by and for a second wave of Indochina-born immigrants after the Vietnam War ended.
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles is home to the U.S.'s first suburban Chinatown (in Monterey Park, California), and now includes Chinese enclaves in the San Gabriel Valley.Reckard, E. Scott and Khouri, Andrew (March 24, 2014) "Wealthy Chinese home buyers boost suburban L.A. housing markets" Los Angeles Times The Chinese population in the neighborhood began to rise starting in 1977, when developer Frederic Hsieh bought up multiple properties in an effort to create what he described would be a "mecca for Chinese". It is considered a "new Chinatown". There are now approximately 15 local cities and communities with Chinese plurality: Alhambra, Arcadia, Diamond Bar, East San Gabriel, Hacienda Heights, Mayflower Village, Monterey Park, North El Monte, Rosemead, Rowland Heights, San Gabriel, San Marino, South San Gabriel, Temple City, Walnut.
Ventura Ventura had a flourishing Chinese settlement in the early 1880s. The largest concentration of activity, known as China Alley, was across Main Street from the Mission San Buenaventura. China Alley was parallel with Main Street and extended east off Figueroa Street between Main and Santa Clara Streets.Landmark #91: China Alley Historic Area accessed March 26, 2014, from link on City Map with Historic Landmarks The city council has designated the China Alley Historic Area a point of interest in the downtown business district.Resolution 99-3 of the City Council adopted and passed January 11, 1999
Hanford Hanford has a historic Chinese alley for display and visitation to this day, which started off in the 1800s as a place of Chinese settlers. Two Chinese restaurants still exist in the area. China Alley was listed as one of the 11 most endangered historic places in America in 2011.
Locke
The Sacramento River delta town of Locke was built in 1915 as a distinct rural Chinese enclave. A thriving agricultural community in the early 20th century, it is no longer predominantly Chinese. A historic district of 50 wood-frame buildings along Main Street, Key Street and River Road was designated a historic district in 1990.
Sacramento
Throughout the early 1840s and 1850s, China was at war with Great Britain and France in the First and Second Opium Wars. The wars, along with endemic poverty in China, helped drive many Chinese immigrants to America. Many first came to San Francisco, which was then the largest city in California, which was known as "Dai Fow" (The Big City) and some came eventually to Sacramento (then the second-largest city in California), which is known as "Yee Fow" (Second City). Many of these immigrants came in hopes for a better life as well as the possibility of finding gold in the foothills east of Sacramento.
Sacramento's Chinatown was located on I Street from Second to Sixth Streets. At the time, this area of I Street was considered a health hazard because it was located in a levee zone and was lower than other parts of the city. Throughout the history of Sacramento's Chinatown, there were fires, acts of discrimination, and prejudicial legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Ordinances on what was viable building material were set into place to try to prevent Chinese settlement. Newspapers wrote stories that portrayed the Chinese in an unfavorable light to inspire ethnic discrimination and drive the Chinese away. As the years passed, a railroad was built through parts of the Chinatown. While the east side of the country fought for higher wages and fewer working hours, many cities in the western United States wanted the Chinese out, believing that they were stealing jobs from the white working class.
Salinas In the 1880s, farm labor in Salinas was performed by many Chinese immigrants. Salinas had the second largest Chinatown in the state, slightly smaller than San Francisco."10,000 Years on the Salinas Plain" by Gary S. Breschini, Mona Gudgel, & Trudy Haversat
San Diego