A Look into Old Chinatown, LA in 1930
In Downtown Los Angeles, across from the historic Placita Olvera, stands Union Station, advertised in its 1939 opening as a "gateway to Los Angeles." However, like the Spanish colonists who settled in this area and erased what was once the heart of Tongva land, planners for Union Station built the transit center over what had become Los Angeles's Chinatown. So continues the American story of white settler colonial thirst for land, racial dispossession and erasure of ethnic history -- along with community resistance to these processes. This project seeks to uncover Los Angeles's Old Chinatown, a neighborhood displaced but also reclaimed, as residents moved their community blocks northward.
This storymap is one stepping stone in a larger collaboration between Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. For this research, 1930 Census data provides information about who lived where, while City Directories of the time provide business addresses. Oral histories conducted with Chinese American people in the late 1970s through early 1990s uncover narratives about growing up in Old Chinatown.
Slide from an aerial satellite view of today's Union Station (left) to a 1921 Baist Real Estate map of Old Chinatown (right)
Very little is left of Old Chinatown. Today the neighborhood's main infrastructure is that of the railroads, Metro Transit Center, and bail bonds industry catered towards Twin Towers and Men's Central jails.
Maps from back in the day tell a different story. The georeferenced 1921 Baist Real Estate map above shows homes and living quarters in this area. Just off of Alameda, now Union Station Terminal, were the main arteries of Old Chinatown: Apablasa and Marchessault Streets.
Based on 1930 Census Data. Link to interactive visualization .
Census data collected from 1930 shows that these two streets had a majority of Chinese residents. This story map focuses in on these streets as a preliminary look into Old Chinatown.
Digitization of buildings from georeferenced 1921 Baist map
Man Jen Low
One of the most popular restaurants in Old Chinatown was Man Jen Low, on 309 1/2 Marchessault St. Wu Hoi started Man Jen Low and passed it to his son Wu Pak Fung after moving back to China. The grandchildren of Wu Hoi, David Lee and Jennie Lee Wong, talk about the restaurant in their oral histories. Jennie explained, "It took a combination of a lot of things: personality, warmth, ability to communicate with Caucasians. In the old days, Chinese restaurants served only chop suey style. Man Jen Low served full course dinners. You don’t make much money from the food, but from the drinks." After Old Chinatown's demolition, Man Jen Low moved to become a staple in New Chinatown.
Lee Family Residence, 417 1/2 Apablasa St
When David Lee was 10 years old and Jennie was 6, the Lees lived at 417 1/2 Apablasa St, in apartments that David Lee referred to as "Bow Wong Low." Downstairs was a store and a shoemaker. In the apartment also resided five or six of the restaurant workers.
Jennie describes how nearby, “The Chinese children were fortunate to have a playground in Chinatown to play in. From Mondays to Fridays, the children would have to go to school from nine to six so there was no time to use the playground. They were able to go to the playground during the summer months and during the weekends. All their spare time was spent at the playground. The playground was a great source of entertainment for them... [It] was the only recreation they had but they were fortunate to have that.”
Tuey Far Low
Another popular family-owned restaurant was Tuey Far Low, on 300 Marchessault at the corner of Alameda. In an oral history, Marge Ong speaks about her father, Quan Shung Doon, who owned Tuey Far Low and ran it with his brother. "Tuey Far Low Restaurant catered to both Chinese and Americans. It was one of the largest in Old Chinatown. It had lots of banquets – for movie actors and actresses. Jack Dempsey and his girlfriend came every Sunday," according to Marge Ong.
Shung Doon Quon & Family, 320 Napier St
Shung Doon Quon was a prominent figure who served on many associations and boards, often as the trustee "because he was so honest-- everyone trusted him."
Shung Doon Quon's family never lived in the same building as the restaurant (as some people did in Old Chinatown). At one point, they lived in "one of the few houses in Chinatown." After coming back from a year's stay in China, they moved to Napier street, where they lived in 1930. Their home language was Sze Yup.When Marge was young, her family went to Chinese operas every Sunday. They went to "one opera house near Old Chinatown on First Street."
According to Marge, her father also educated himself as a herbal doctor. "He just wrote the prescriptions for [Marge] to pick up the herbs from the store."
Dun Sow Hong
One of the many herbal stores in Chinatown was Dun Sow Hong, owned by Mu Sun. The children of Mu Sun, George, Stanton, Lilly and Jane are all included in the oral histories.
Mu Family Home
The Mus lived at 310 Apablasa St.
Chung Residence, 311 Apablasa
Right across the street lived nine year old Walter Chung and his family in 1930. In his oral history, Walter has a wealth of knowledge about the community. He talks about the Chinese peddlers who would go all over Los Angeles, some all the way to Pasadena: "They would return at night on their horses. They turned into Apablasa Street from Alameda and the horses would run because they knew they were going back to the stables to be fed."
Walter also told a story about selling crystal radio sets to sex workers so that they could learn English. He said these women were on the alleys off Apablasa and Napier Streets.
Macy Street School
Walter Chung and the Mu children all went to a school nearby called Macy Street School. (What is now Cesar Chavez Ave was once called Macy St. This building has been morphed into a larger building for the bail bonds industry.)
Macy St school on 716 Avila St was very diverse, and Walter described it as "predominately Chicano." This school was somewhat of a microcosm of the demographics in and around Old Chinatown-- where certain streets had large Mexican populations.
The following graph shows the larger racial and ethnic composition of streets in and around Chinatown (beyond Apablasa and Marchessault). The 1930 U.S. Census reflected limiting conceptions of race, confining a diverse country of people. Racial categories included "Black," "white," and several ethnicities, such as "Chinese or Japanese." There was no distinction between race and ethnicity. I created the multi-racial group for people whose parents were of different ethnicities. This multi-racial category encompasses outlier cases, such as one man, born in the Philippines, who the Census worker listed then crossed out as "Chinese." The man's father was Filipino and mother Chinese. In crossing out a category and leaving it blank, that Census worker showed how limiting these racial and ethnic categories are.
Based on 1930 Census Data. Link to interactive visualization .
Most of the people in these neighborhoods were foreign born, though many were born in the U.S. as well. The most common places of birth were Mexico, China, and California.
Based on 1930 Census Data. Link to interactive visualization .
The narrative of the families show the prominence of restaurant, groceries, merchandise and herbal stores. The following graphic shows these and other common professions, broken down by the race/ethnnicity of people who worked in these industries. The visualization does not include every industry, only the top 32.
Based on 1930 Census Data. Link to interactive visualization .
These exploratory graphs present areas for further analysis and an opportunity to map even more of Old Chinatown and its surrounding areas.
