Pinoytown Virtual Tour

Discover where Filipino families and businesses in San Jose once thrived from the 1930s to 1950s

Introduction

Since 2019, the  Filipino American National Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley  (FANHS SCV) has welcomed the public to participate in their  Pinoytown Historical Walking Tours . The tours, in partnership with and led by Manong Robert Ragsac, retell the stories and revive the history of the Filipino community that once blossomed in San Jose’s Sixth Street Chinatown.

The inaugural Pinoytown Historical Walking Tour was held on March 3, 2019. (Photo by Abe Menor)

Complimentary to the in-person walking tours, this story map aims to connect online visitors with an immersive, virtual experience of Pinoytown. This easily accessible and shareable resource is an extension of FANHS SCV’s mission to promote understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation, and enrichment through the identification, gathering, preservation, and dissemination of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in Santa Clara Valley.

For Pinoytown Walking Tour inquires, please email FANHS SCV at  pinoytownsj@gmail.com .

    • Sixth Street Chinatown & Pinoytown
    • Heinlenville Chinatown
    • Japantown

Map of Heinlenville and the Sixth Street Chinatown & Pinoytown enclave, compared to the current Japantown area.

Beginnings in Heinlenville Chinatown

In 1887, a German immigrant and businessman named John Heinlen established a settlement for San Jose's Chinese population that had been displaced from four previous Chinatowns. Having experienced anti-German sentiments during his family's time in the midwest, he understood the difficulties of establishing a community and raising a family as in immigrant in America. Heinlen sympathized with the Chinese and sought out to help create a new Chinatown.

Braving intense opposition, including death threats, Heinlen recruited architect Theodore Lenzen to design what eventually became nicknamed as Heinlenville. Located in the area bounded by North Sixth and North Seventh Streets, and Jackson and Taylor Streets, Heinlen leased property to the Chinese at low rates. To protect its inhabitants, an eight-foot-high fence surrounding Heinlenville was locked every night, while foot patrols provided security.

The settlement came to flourish, growing to a community of about 2,000 residents. When Japanese field laborers began populating the valley in the mid-1890s, many of them found lodging, Asian dry goods, and foodstuffs in Heinlenville. Filipino field laborers, who arrived in the 1920s, worked and lived on local farms and ranches and patronized Heinlenville's businesses. The familiar lodging, entertainment, restaurants, and shops provided comfort and safety from prevailing anti-Asian racism.

Heinlenville met its demise in the 1930s. Many of its original inhabitants passed on, and their children had integrated into the outside community. Immigration dwindled under the Chinese Exclusion Act, further diminishing the population. When the Heinlen estate went bankrupt in the midst of the Great Depression, Heinlenville became the property of the city and its buildings were eventually razed.

Left: Benrabe Ragsac in front of Ideal Laundry Co., ca. 1930. Right: The building's facade still has its decorative window tiles, May 2022.

As Heinlenville Chinatown declined, many Chinese shops and residents moved to Sixth Street, becoming the main Asian-friendly neighborhood. This enclave grew in businesses and residents and became known to outsiders as “Chinatown” or “Sixth Street.”

From the early 1930s throughout the 1950s, Sixth Street was home to many of the buildings, businesses, and gathering places frequented and favored by the local Filipino community. This historical enclave, and its nearby points of interest, is known as Pinoytown.

Exploring Pinoytown

For instructions on navigating the virtual tour of Pinoytown, scroll through the following guide for easy-to-follow tips.

Note: The virtual tour is best viewed on a desktop computer. While the accompanying guide reflects how the tour is displayed via desktop, the interactive features will function similarly when viewed on mobile and tablet devices.

Site Information As you scroll down the page, detailed information about a featured site will appear in the lower right panel.

Site Map Featured site locations are noted on the map in the upper right panel. As you scroll through the page, visiting site to site, this map will adjust its view to show the location of the site featured in the information panel. Click the navigation buttons (home, + , – ) to adjust your view of the map. You can also click/hold/drag to move and reposition the map.

If you want to skip and jump around to sites in no particular order, click the site numbers on the map.

Site Images Images associated with the featured site will appear in the large panel. Click this area for expanded/collapsed views of the images.

Site Image Information Hover over the circled "i" icon in the top left corner to view information about the displayed image.

Image Scroll Click the arrows on the left and right side of the image panel to view multiple images associated with the featured site.

Pinoytown Tour Map

Epilogue

By the 1960s, the Sixth Street area ceased to be a culturally unique neighborhood. As the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino population aged, their children matured and moved on, changing the demographics of the area.

Left: Pinoytown was a popular meeting place for second generation Pinays. Hanging out at the corner of Sixth and Jackson are (clockwise from top left) Dolores Escalante, Tillie Duag, Lily Bacosa, Frances Bacosa, and Ramona Escalante, ca. mid 1940s. Right: The neighborhood continues to change, but the Del Monte (now Mariani) water tower remains.

Businesses disappeared and buildings were demolished. In turn, the area was no longer a destination for shopping, entertainment, or visits. Pinoytown faded away, leaving the Filipino Community Center as the sole survivor and remnant of a once-thriving Filipino enclave.


Resources

Organization Links

References

  • Fukuda, C. & Pearce R.M. (2014). San Jose Japantown : a journey. Japanese American Museum of San Jose.
  • Potter, L., Yamane, M., Mau, M., & Lister, B. (2011). San Jose Chinatowns heritage fair. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Archaeology Center.
  • Ragsac, Sr., Robert V. (2020). Memories of Pinoytown San Jose. Filipino American National Historical Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter.
  • San Francisco Planning Department. (2019). National Register Nomination: Gran Oriente (Case No. 2016-008192SRV). San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Planning Department.
  • Sonoma State University Anthropological Studies Center. (2008). Historical Context and Archaeological Survey Report: Heinlenville/San Jose Corporation Yard Archaeological Project, San Jose, California. Rohnert Park, CA: Sonoma State University Anthropological Studies Center.
  • Yu, C. (1991). Chinatown, San Jose, USA. San Jose Historical Museum.

Image Sources

Images courtesy of the Ragsac Family, the Bacosa Family, the Quibelan Family, and Jen Valenzuela.

© 2022 Filipino American National Historical Society - Santa Clara Valley Chapter

As Filipinx American settlers in the South Bay, we acknowledge we are on the unceded sacred land of the Tamien Nation. We remember their connection to this region and give thanks for the opportunity to live, teach, and learn in their traditional homeland. May we, in our own lives, learn Indigenous protocols, create connections, and come to know our reciprocal relationship with the land.

To learn more about the Tamien Nation, please visit  tamien.org  or  facebook.com/TamienNation1 .

The inaugural Pinoytown Historical Walking Tour was held on March 3, 2019. (Photo by Abe Menor)

Left: Benrabe Ragsac in front of Ideal Laundry Co., ca. 1930. Right: The building's facade still has its decorative window tiles, May 2022.

Left: Pinoytown was a popular meeting place for second generation Pinays. Hanging out at the corner of Sixth and Jackson are (clockwise from top left) Dolores Escalante, Tillie Duag, Lily Bacosa, Frances Bacosa, and Ramona Escalante, ca. mid 1940s. Right: The neighborhood continues to change, but the Del Monte (now Mariani) water tower remains.