A Site of Great Significance at 965 Clay Street, San Francisco

The Chinese Historical Society of America at 965 Clay Street occupies this historic landmark building built in 1932 from the design of noted architect Julia Morgan to serve as the YWCA in Chinatown.

Its significance for the Chinese community of San Francisco goes back much further to around the 1906 quake and fire when the same site (see superimposed image below) was used to build the Oriental School for Chinese and other Asian children who were not allowed to attend white schools.

This site was also where a turf battle between Chinese and white youth led to the accidental shooting in 1912 by a Chinese boy that led to the death one white boy as detailed in an earlier post on this blog.