List of Chinatowns in the United States

This is a list of Chinatowns in the United States.

Arizona

• Jerome - There was a small Chinatown in the 1870s^[1]
• Phoenix - Chinese immigrants working as railroad workers established the first Chinatown in downtown Phoenix at First and Adams Street in the present location of US Airways Arena. All building have been torn down except for the Sun Mercantile Building.^[2]
• Prescott - Granite Street, between Goodwin and Gurley Street was the location of a Chinatown and more than 200 Chinese during late 19th and early 20th century. The area was razed in 1934 in order to make room for new construction.^[3]
• Tucson - A Chinatown began to form in Tucson after the railroad arrived in 1880. Tucson's Chinese population was very small and never exceeded 2% of the cities population. It's remaining and partly abandoned structures were demolished in 1968. However, in 1968 researchers discovered a complex called the "Ying On compound" still contained a group of working class elderly Chinese men.^[4]

California

Los Angeles Chinatown Broadway entrance

As the first part of North America to see immigration by Chinese people, many towns in California have historic Chinatowns, some of them surviving today, while various rural communities were Chinatowns in and of themselves.

• Bakersfield - Historical Chinatown located on 19th, 20th, and 21st Streets, and on L and M Streets.^[5]
• Calico Ghost Town had its own Chinatown.^[6]
• Chinatown, Amador County, California - former settlement in Amador County
• Chinatown, Mono County, California - community in Mono County
• Chinese Camp - Highway 49, old gold mining town of early Chinese residents and shops near Yosemite National Park
• Eureka - ordered demolished after tong war in 1886
• Fiddletown - historic mining community which was populated by up to 5000 Chinese. The Chinese medicine store Chew Kee Store operates today as a museum
• Fresno - defunct, but there are efforts to revitalize it^[7]
• Hanford - China Alley, between Green Street and White Street (Chinese buildings still standing, but not particularly culturally active)
• Los Angeles - Broadway, Spring Street.
• Marysville
• Nevada City - defunct, but a cemetery remains
  • North San Juan
  • Truckee - defunct, only one building remains ^[8]
• Newcastle - historic Chinatown ^[9]
• Oakland - Broadway, 7th Street, Harrison Avenue, 10th Street
• Riverside - Brockton and Tequesquite (historic site - National Register of Historic Places)
  • Richmond's Pacific East Mall anchors the adjacent EL Cerrito area known as "Little Taipei".
• Sacramento - 3rd, 5th, J, and I Streets
  • Isleton - includes the preserved historic Bing Kung Tong Building
  • Locke - rural town including Locke Historic District - National Register of Historic Places
  • Walnut Grove
• Salinas - defunct, soledad Street, Bing Kong Tong Chinese Free Masons building remains but the area is nowadays a decrepit skid row
• San Diego - historic Market and K Streets, 2nd and 5th Avenues near the Gaslamp Quarter, re-themed as the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District

Chinatown, San Francisco

• San Francisco (See Chinatown, San Francisco.)
• San Gabriel Valley (including Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Rowland Heights, Temple City)
• San Jose - defunct "Chinatown" on Market Street (Source: http://marketstreet.stanford.edu/), though a historical sign exists near the Fairmont Hotel that says the Chinatown was burned down by arson back around the 1960s.
• San Luis Obispo - Palm Street, a collection of closed restaurants and the historic Ah Louis store remain.
• Stockton - Washington Street and Chung Wah Lane, vastly diminished since the 1960s but several Chinese facilities are still fairly active on two blocks (including a Chinese restaurant in operation since the 1890s)
• Weaverville - a gold mining-era town that had a Chinatown but burned down in 1906. The remaining Taoist joss house is on the National Register of Historic Places

Colorado

• Denver - along Federal Blvd. and Alameda Avenue

District of Columbia

Washington DC Chinatown

• Washington - Chinatown (Washington, D.C.)

Florida

• Miami - NE 167th Street and 163rd Street, between NE 6th Avenue and NE 19th Avenue^[10]
• Orlando - State Route 50, on both sides of I-4 (mix of Chinese and Vietnamese)
• Tampa - Intersection of Waters and Armenia Aves., ~1 mile radius

Georgia

• Buford Highway - Atlanta/Chamblee/Doraville[5]

Hawaii

Main article: Chinatown, Honolulu

• Honolulu^[11] - Beretania Street, Maunakea Street

Idaho

• Boise - founded in 1901 and lasted until 1970s, formerly on 8th Street and Front Street

Illinois

Main article: Chinatown, Chicago

• Chicago - Along Wentworth at Cermak.^[12]

Maryland

• Baltimore - Park Avenue, between Saratoga and Mulberry Streets.

Massachusetts

Boston Chinatown

Main article: Chinatown (Boston)

• Boston - Kneeland Street Chinatown (Boston)
• North Quincy^[13]

Michigan

• Detroit (historic): Detroit's first Chinatown, the historic "Old Chinatown," was originally located on Third Avenue between Michigan and Bagley. Increasing in size and population between the 1920s and 1950s, "Old Chinatown" was eventually condemned for a "slum clearance" project that ultimately resulted in the construction of the John C. Lodge Freeway in 1959. In the early 1960s, residents and business owners of the Chinese American community relocated to the Cass Corridor, where "New Chinatown" was unveiled as Detroit's new ethnic and commercial district. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, high crime and unemployment rates rocked the city, leading many residents of "New Chinatown" to fear for their safety. Both the shooting of Tommie Lee at Bow Wah's Restaurant in 1976 and the killing of Vincent Chin in 1982 lead many Chinese Americans who lived in the city to move their families and businesses to the surrounding suburbs. Today, the Association of Chinese Americans' Detroit Drop-in Service Center still operates at Peterboro and Cass, providing social and welfare services to a small community of elderly Chinese immigrants who live nearby.^[14] The hallmark Cantonese restaurant, Chung's, closed its doors in 2004.
• Madison Heights: Just north of Detroit in Madison Heights, there is a small but present strip of East Asian commercial outlets along John R. Road, which include restaurants and retail managed by individuals of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Filipino descent. Also located in Madison Heights is the Association of Chinese Americans' Chinese Community Center. Although the Chinese American population of Southeast Michigan is comparatively smaller than other American cities, the Detroit chapter of the ACA is the only branch of the Organization of Chinese Americans to have a fully operational community center, as well as two satellite service centers.^[14]

Minnesota

• Nicollet Ave in Minneapolis does have a large number of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, especially between W 24th and W 28th Streets. This area in the urban area of the Whittier neighbourhood has been Asian-influenced since the 1970s.

Missouri

• Chinatown, St. Louis - original Downtown St. Louis Chinatown destroyed in early 1960s; New Chinatown located in U-City at Delmar Blvd. Chinatown Designation efforts continue to create official area.

Montana

• Butte - has a defunct Chinatown.^[15]
• Helena - the capital city of the territory and then state (1889) of Montana had a relatively large Chinatown, several blocks long and a few blocks wide, which was mostly destroyed during the urban renewal of the 1970s. This area, south of Ming Street, is now the Lewis and Clark County Library, the 'old' Federal Building, parking lots, and several parks.

Nebraska

• Omaha, Nebraska - defunct, vicinity of 12th and Douglas Streets with the On Leong Tong based at 111 North 12th. King Fong's Cantonese at 315 South 16th Street was opened in 1921 by Gin Ah Chin with elaborate furnishings imported from Hong Kong. (Source: E Pluribus Omaha: Immigrants All by Harry Otis and Donald Erickson, 2000)

Nevada

Main article: Chinatown, Las Vegas

• Las Vegas - Asian commercial plazas along Spring Mountain Road
• Virginia City- a historic Chinatown which had a Chinese population of over 1500 in the 1870s.^[16][17]

New Jersey

• Edison
• Chinatown, Newark a small Chinatown that grew to its largest in the 1920s and no longer exists today
• Pleasantville - new one started on Black Horse Pike, near Atlantic City

New York

Queens Library in Flushing Chinatown

Manhattan Chinatown

Brooklyn Chinatown

New York City has now become the largest magnet for immigration from Mainland China and has become highly diverse, with Fujianese, Wenzhounese, Shanghainese, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Dongbei, and various other types of Chinese people:

• Lower Manhattan -

Main articles: Chinatown, Manhattan and Manhattan's Little Fuzhou (小福州)

• Flushing, Queens -
  Main article: Chinatown, Flushing
• Elmhurst, Queens - previously a small area with Chinese shops on Broadway between 81st Street and Cornish Avenue, Queens' second Chinatown has now expanded to 45th Avenue and Whitney Avenue.^[18]
• Sunset Park, Brooklyn -
  Main article: Chinatown, Brooklyn
• Homecrest, Brooklyn - Avenue U - southern Brooklyn's second Chinatown.
• Bensonhurst, Brooklyn - below the D-line elevated subway along on 86th Street between 18th Avenue and Stillwell Avenue has emerged southern Brooklyn's third Chinatown.

North Carolina

Charlotte's Asian Corner Mall

• Charlotte - Central Avenue (near Briar Creek Rd.) is the original "Chinatown" consisting of "Saigon Square" and a pair of other Chinese shopping plazas that include "Dim Sum Restaurant" (which serves New York styled dim sum), the "Eang Hong Supermarket", "Van Loi" (which serves cha shao), and a dozen or so other stores.
  • Saigon Square has various Vietnamese (albeit not Chinese) stores including Pho Hoa (Vietnamese noodles).
  • Asian Corner Mall on North Tryon Street and Sugar Creek Road, developed from the defunct Tryon Mall in 1999, with "Dragon Court Restaurant", "Hong Kong BBQ", "International Supermarket", and "New Century Market" and several other Chinese/Vietnamese stores.

Ohio

• Cleveland - around Payne Avenue, E. 30th Street and Rockwell Avenue
• Cincinnati - defunct (Source: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/12/06/loc_sept_11_evokes.html)

Oklahoma

Main article: Asia District

• Oklahoma City - roughly along N. Classen Blvd from N. 22nd Street to N. West 36th
  • Old Chinatown, Downtown - In the first half of the 20th century, hundreds of Chinese immigrants lived in an historic "underground Chinatown" beneath what is now the Cox Convention Center. The chambers were rediscovered, long-abandoned, in 1969.^[19]

Oregon

Main article: Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon

• Portland (See Chinatown, Portland)
• Jacksonville - has a defunct Chinatown (oldest in Oregon)
• John Day - late 19th century

Pennsylvania

Chinatown, Philadelphia

Main article: Chinatown, Philadelphia

• Philadelphia - Cherry St area

Old Pittsburgh Chinatown on Blvd. of the Allies

• Pittsburgh -
  • Defunct old Chinatown around Blvd of the Allies and Grant St
    • One Chinese restaurant, Chinatown Inn, still exists from the original Chinatown in two of its original buildings.
    • Original tenants in the old original Pittsburgh Chinatown, all of which are gone today, included^[20][21]:
      • Wing Hong Chinese Co., 519 Second Ave
      • Hop Ching Wing, at 527 Second Ave
      • Quong Yuen Lee Co., 505 Second Ave
      • Quong Chong Shing, 511 Second Ave
      • Sun Wing Sing Co, 507 Second Ave
      • Quong Wah Hai Co., 314 Second Ave
      • Lee Jan Fueng, 521 Second Ave
• Harrisburg - Cameron Street

South Dakota

• Deadwood

Tennessee

• Memphis - Summer Avenue (east) near I-240

Texas

Main article: Chinatown, Houston

Chinatown, Houston

• Houston - Chartres Street in East Downtown, and Chinatown at Bellaire Boulevard and Beltway 8.
• Dallas-Fort Worth
  • Richardson - Greenville Avenue
  • Garland - Walnut Street
  • Plano - Legacy/U.S. 75
• Austin - prefabricated Chinatown Center on Lamar Boulevard, billed as Austin's "Chinatown" (new as of 2006)^[22]

Utah

• Salt Lake City, Utah - defunct one on Plum Alley

Virginia

• Alexandria, Virginia - A "satellite" of the Washington, DC Chinatown.

Washington

• Olympia - 5th Avenue and Water Street, defunct by the 1940s, this Chinatown was founded by the Lok family from Taishan in Guangdong, China. (Washington Governor Gary Locke is a descendant)
• Seattle (See International District, Seattle, Washington.)
  • Kent -Chinese-themed indoor mall on East Valley Highway,
• Spokane - defunct by the 1940s, it was on Trent Alley in downtown Spokane but is now a parking lot today
• Tacoma - defunct, burned down in 1885 (see Lincoln International District.)

See also

• Ethnic enclave
• Chinatowns
• List of Chinatowns
• List of named ethnic enclaves in North American cities
• Europe Street, a street in China dedicated to the European culture

References

• Paris Chinatown France
• Chinatown San Francisco

1. ^ Chinese Immigration into Arizona Territory
2. ^ Row over Chinatown landmark stirs memories
3. ^ The History of Prescott's Chinatown
4. ^ The Chinese of Early Tucson. Historic Archaeology from the Tucson Urban Renewal Project. Florence C. Liester and Robert H. Lister. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1989. x, 129 pp
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ Calico Ghost Town and Regional Park
7. ^ Fresno's Chinatown website
8. ^ Sierra Sun article
9. ^ [2]
10. ^ http://pandagator.info/blog/?p=188
11. ^ Chinatown, Honolulu website
12. ^ Chicago Chinatown website
13. ^ http://www.patriotledger.com/answerbook/quincy/x1682029422/Health-care-provider-in-North-Quincy-proposes-8M-expansion-project
14. ^ ^{a b} Association of Chinese Americans, (ACA), Inc. (Accessed 26 December 2009).
15. ^ [3]
16. ^ Virginia City and Gold Hill website
17. ^ Virginia City Chinatown
18. ^ "A Growing Chinatown in Elmhurst". http://queens.about.com/od/photogalleries/ig/Photos-of-Elmhurst/Elmhurst-Chinatown-.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
19. ^ [4]
20. ^ "Inn to the past: Downtown Cantonese restaurant points back to city's vanished Chinatown". http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/lifestyle/20031209chinatown1209p1.asp. 
21. ^ "Where is Pittsburgh's China Town?". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/pittsburghchinatown/index.htm&date=2009-10-26+00:36:28. 
22. ^ Austin's Chinatown website