Ah Louis

On Wong (1840 – December 16, 1936), more commonly known as Ah Louis, was a Chinese American banker, labor contractor, farmer, and shopkeeper in San Luis Obispo, California during the late 19th and early 20th century. His Ah Louis Store building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ah Louis was a central figure in the development of the Central Coast of California, serving as an organizer of Chinese laborers during the construction of the Pacific Coast Railway's Avila—Port Harford spur and the tunnels through Cuesta Grade over the Santa Lucia Range.

History

Ah Louis Store. Photo by peterme.

Ah Louis traveled from his home in Guangzhou (Canton), China, and arrived in California between 1856 and 1861 in order to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush. Unsuccessful at mining, he became a laborer working in Corvallis, Oregon and points further south.

Ah eventually settled in San Luis Obispo, California in 1870, and was working as a cook in a hotel there in 1871. Soon he began to organize work-crews to help construct the Pacific Coast Railroad, delivering 160 Chinese Americans from San Francisco by schooner.^[1] In 1877, Ah was awarded two large road construction contracts, including a road from Paso Robles, California to Cambria, California (now the western-most portion of State Route 46) and the first stages of a road connecting San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles, California (now referred to as Cuesta Grade, a portion of which is still drivable and is labeled off the freeway as "Old Stagecoach Road" and a portion of U.S. Route 101). In 1884, Ah received the contract to construct the four Cuesta Grade tunnels for the Southern Pacific Railroad, requiring the provision of 2,000 laborers and taking ten years to complete.

Store

Seeing a need for the California central coast's Chinese community, Ah opened a small oriental mercantile in 1874, the first in San Luis Obispo County, from which he sold goods including rice, rum, and opium (opium use was legal until 1915).^[2] The wooden structure was replaced by a sturdy brick building in 1885, made from bricks from his own brickyard which still stands at 800 Palm Street on the corner of Chorro Street in downtown San Luis Obispo, marking where San Luis Obispo's Chinatown once stood. The shop is currently owned by Dr. William Watson, Ah Louis's great-grandson,^[3][4] and the ground floor is now open as a gift shop, though now converted into a westernized shop, selling mostly housewares. The Ah Louis store has been designated as a California State Historical Landmark number 802^[5] by the United States National Parks Service.,^[1] and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Family

Ah Louis married his first wife in China in 1860.^[6] She was in California in 1868, but returned to China about 1873. Ah last saw her in China in 1888.^[6] The 1880 census shows a wife living with him, but no children are shown.^[7] In May 1889, Ah married Gon Ying (a second wife) in San Francisco and raised eight children, five sons and three daughters.^[8] Ying was murdered in 1909 by a son of Ah Louis from his first wife.^[6][9] In 1933, accompanied by two sons,^[10] Ah returned to China to visit family there and to observe the tradition of dying where one was born. Disappointed with banditry and lack of modern technology there, he returned to San Luis Obispo, dying in 1936.^[2] The youngest and last of his children, Howard Louis, who continued to run the store until late in the 1990s, died on August 15, 2008, at the age of 100.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} National Park Service, "An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Chinese Americans): Ah Louis Store"
2. ^ ^{a b} Daniel Blackburn (2003-11-19). "Chinese remembered: Ah Louis left a huge imprint on San Luis Obispo’s formative years". http://archive.newtimesslo.com/archive/2003-11-19/archives/cov_stories_2003/cov_01162003.html. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
3. ^ "National Register of Historic Places: Registration Form". 2008. http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/asia/2009/AhLouisStore.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-11. 
4. ^ "SLO City Resolution for Historic Preservation". 2006. http://www.ci.san-luis-obispo.ca.us/cityclerk/minutes/2006/111406min/r9852historicprop800palm.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-11. 
5. ^ "California State Parks Office of Historical Preservation". http://www.ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21484. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Judy Hendricks (2008). "The Murder of Gon Yin Luis". Heritage Shared (with excerpts from The Times of SLO). http://www.heritageshared.org/docs/murder/murder.html. Retrieved 2011-06-10.  Willie Louis was born about 1868. He testified in court he was born in California, that he went back to China with his mother about 1873, that he returned to California about 1893, that he made several trips back and forth, and that his latest arrival was about 1905. He was executed at San Quentin Prison in 1912.
7. ^ "Louis household in 1880 US Census". http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/census/household_record.asp?HOUSEHOLD_CODE=1880US_4407346. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
8. ^ "A History of Chinese Americans in California: Ah Louis Store". http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views3h2.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
9. ^ Jeffry Radding (2009) (PDF). A Vital Determination. Bar Bulletin. http://www.heritageshared.org/files/raddingarticle.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
10. ^ "1934 Interview with Ah Louis for Westways Magazine". http://www.historyinslocounty.org/Oldest%20Living%20Chinese.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
11. ^ "Obituary:Howard W. Louis". Zirana/San Luis Obispo. 2008. http://www.zirana.com/sanluisobispo/obituaries/obituaryhoward_w._louis_.html. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 

External links

• Google Maps location of Ah Louis' store at corner or Palm & Chorro, includes Google StreetView
• Historical Marker Database
• Chinese Contributions to San Luis Obispo County
• Chinese Pioneer Timeline
• Brief History of San Luis Obispo's Chinese
• San Luis Obispo: a history in architecture by Janet Penn Franks, 2004
• Preliminary Report on December 22, 2003 San Simeon Earthquake Ah Louis Store on pages 10-11
• Image of 1875 ad for Ah Luis Store

Persondata
Name	Wong, On
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1840
Place of birth
Date of death	December 16, 1936
Place of death