Day 183: Riverside Chinatown, California

📌APIA Every Day (183) - Located in Riverside, California were two Chinatowns, both now gone but well-documented through local interest and archaeological work. The first Chinatown was established in the downtown area on Ninth Street, including laundries, small restaurants, and other businesses. After a fire destroyed it, a second Chinatown was established in 1885 in the Tequesquite Arroyo near Mt. Rubidoux. Known as "Little Gom-Benn," this community had up to 400 residents, many from the Gom-Benn village in the Toishan region of southern China.

Wong Nim, Wong Gee, and Gin Duey leased 7 acres of land outside Riverside's Mile Square in 1885 and became full owners of Riverside's second Chinatown by 1888. Despite a coal stove explosion destroying the community in 1893, they rebuilt the area, which thrived until the 1920s. During peak seasons, up to 3,000 Chinese laborers lived in or near the groves, picking and packing fruit. By the 1930s, however, the community declined due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and decreasing Chinese population. George Wong, an early resident, became the last caretaker of Chinatown until his death in 1974.

In 1968, Riverside Chinatown was designated as a historic resource and later listed as a State Point of Historical Interest and a City landmark. Following George Wong's death, the site was purchased by the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, leading to archaeological testing by the Great Basin Foundation in 1984, which unearthed significant artifacts and preserved most of the site for future study. Despite a development threat in 2008, the Save Our Chinatown Committee successfully overturned the city's approval for a medical office building in 2012, ensuring the preservation of Riverside Chinatown's historical legacy.

Today, the site of Riverside's second Chinatown is marked but closed to the public, surrounded by a chain-link fence with a historical marker at the corner of Tequesquite and Palm Avenues. The Chinese Pavilion in downtown Riverside serves as a memorial to the former Chinese community. Many descendants of Riverside's Chinese residents have resettled in other parts of Southern California and formed the Gom-Benn Village Society, which continues to hold annual meetings in Los Angeles. The Riverside Chinatown archaeological site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

LEARN MORE:

National Park Service: Riverside Chinatown NRHP

Google Arts & Culture: Riverside's Chinatown Archaeological Site

Save Our Chinatown Committee: Discover Riverside's Chinese American heritage

USC Riverside: Riverside 's Chinatowns

#apiaeveryday #chinese #chineseamerican #chineseamericanhistory #chinatown #riversidechinatown #california #wongnum #wonggee #ginduey #gagecanal #georgewong #saveourchinatowncommittee