![]() ![]() Known as the Garnier Building, it was home to community organizations, businesses and residences. (The rest of the neighborhood was demolished between the late 1940s and early '50s to make way for the 101 freeway.) All that remains of Old Chinatown is a portion of one building inside the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. In the process, much of Old Chinatown was leveled to make way for the project. It would take more than a decade for the new train station to become a reality. City leaders, the Los Angeles Times and even famed preacher Aimee Semple McPherson were loudly anti-L and pro-train station - and that's how people voted. In 1926, Angelenos were presented with the option of a new train station or "elevated railways" known as an L train. Although Union Station is one of L.A.'s crown jewels, the story of its development is far less pretty. His plan didn't succeed but it sowed the seeds for what was to come. Hanchett bought 25 acres of land in the area, ostensibly to build warehouses but really to build a train station. In November 1914, "San Francisco capitalist" L.F. Industrialists and city leaders wanted it for a rail hub. A 1988 guidebook about the neighborhood's history said it boasted "a Chinese opera theater, three temples, a newspaper (for a while), and later, its own telephone exchange." The Golden Dragon Parade that has become a Lunar New Year tradition in Los Angeles traces its roots to a parade that started near Old Chinatown in the late 1800s.Īlong the way, the land that Old Chinatown sat on, located next to several intersecting rail lines, had become valuable. Old Chinatown had its heyday from 1890 to 1910, when it could count approximately 15 streets and about 200 units in various buildings, according to Old Chinatown L.A. "It was partly real," says Moy of the so-called tong wars, "partly a perception created by the press." Family associations are different from tongs, whose disputes captured headlines in the early 20th century. ![]() In Chinatown, these groups often functioned as intermediaries, connecting employers with potential employees. These included family associations for people connected by the same last name. In addition to general stores and other necessary businesses, various Chinese organizations took shape. (Harry Quillen Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection) Still, Chinatown's population grew as Chinese people moved from rural areas to an urban one. The California Alien Land Law of 1913 prevented "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from buying land. (The exact number of people who were killed has been hard to pin down.) Eight people were tried and found guilty for the Chinese Massacre of 1871 but their convictions were later overturned.Ī decade later, in 1882, the federal Chinese Exclusion Act prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. The mob robbed, beat and murdered approximately 18 Chinese people. history.Īfter a police officer and a civilian were shot during a gunfight between rival gangs, a mob of 500 people laid siege to one of Chinatown's most important buildings. On the night of October 24, 1871, the powder keg of resentment and racism exploded into one of the worst lynchings in U.S. Half of them lived on Calle de Los Negros, an alley tucked between El Pueblo Plaza and Old Arcadia Street. was a city of approximately 5,000 people, about 200 of whom were Chinese. That didn't stop immigrants.īy 1870, L.A. Fears that new arrivals were taking jobs from white people stoked growing anti-Chinese sentiment. Newspaper stories spawned negative stereotypes and disparaged Chinese people. Once here, they faced profound racial discrimination. ![]() (Works Progress Administration Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection) ![]()
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