A Tale of Two Chinatowns in 1906

The two largest Chinatowns in the U.S. in 1906 were in San Francisco and New York.  Both faced major threats to their existence in 1906 but survived and still are iconic in 2019 even though now they are threatened by gentrification and the move by many Chinese residents with resources to suburban areas.

The 1906 disaster of a major earthquake and fire in San Francisco is well known and needs no detailed description.  The photograph by Arnold Genthe says it all. Amazingly, Chinatown, like the rest of the city, rose from the ashes and its Chinese merchants became an attraction for tourism.

Less well known is the 1906 threat to the existence of New York's Chinatown which was not due to natural forces but to social and political factors.  The Mayor and some powerful civic and religious leaders wanted to replace Chinatown, reviled for its filth and vice, with a park.

Feb. 28, 1906 "Tear Down the Dens of Chinatown and Make a Park...

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Chinese and their supporters strenuously objected to the proposal and numerous public hearings were held in the spring of 1906.

On March 21, 1906, p. 3, The Evening World, which strongly advocated for the park plan exclaimed that the battle was "good as won."

A search of archival newspapers for the rest of 1906 did not turn up any definitive date for ending the proposal. But support for it died out and it was argued that health and police departments would be a less costly way to deal with the filth and vices than to purchase the land for the park. And so, Chinatown in lower Manhattan dodged its demolition.  The crisis still had some negative collateral damage that will be the subject of another post.