Day 288: Historic “Chinatown”, Little Rock, Arkansas
📌 APIA Every Day (288) - Little Rock “Chinatown”, located in the capital city of Arkansas, was once a small but significant enclave for Chinese immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Situated near the heart of the city, the Chinatown area was a vibrant community that supported Chinese-owned businesses, such as laundries and grocery stores. Though now largely forgotten in mainstream American history, Little Rock Chinatown and neighboring counties played an important role in Arkansas’ commercial and cultural life, providing a space where Chinese immigrants could create a sense of community. Little physical evidence remains of the original Chinatown, the stories and legacy of the community continue to be an important part of Little Rock’s cultural history.
The history of Little Rock Chinatown traces back to the late 1800s when Chinese laborers, mostly male immigrants, arrived in the city seeking economic opportunities following the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Gold Rush. Chinese laborers were recruited to address the labor shortages across American Southern plantation economies during the Reconstruction period. This plan failed as Chinese workers eventually left these plantation sites to start mostly laundries and grocery stores in historic Black neighborhoods. Some Chinese also served as cooks and opened up their own restaurants in Arkansas. Despite facing considerable discrimination and legal restrictions, the small Chinese community that remained in the area flourished, establishing businesses, social networks, and institutions.
Many of the initial Chinese laborers who remained settled in Arkansas through intermarriage or by bringing their families from China. Thus, the Chinese population grew considerably with newer waves of migration throughout the 20th century. These mobilities made way for newer institutions, such as language schools for the American-born Chinese in Arkansas, churches such as the Little Rock Chinese Christian Church, which served as a community center, and the creation of the Chinese Association of Arkansas.
Today, the memory of Arkansas’s “Chinatown” exists primarily through oral histories, archival documents, and the efforts of local universities and Chinese American organizations to preserve its legacy. However, one grocery store in Little Rock’s Chinatown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005: George D.D. Huie Grocery Store Building. Located at 1400 North Pine Street in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the building that hosted the grocery store was built by George Huie, a Chinese immigrant. The store was historically important for the growth and development of the local Chinese community and for its service to the historic African American neighborhood in which the grocery store was located. Given that Little Rock Chinatown history has largely been forgotten, how might historic preservation practices expand to include Asian histories across the American South where, instead of officially designated Chinatowns, small, dispersed Chinese communities existed and contributed to local economies and culture?
Written by Billy Zeng
LEARN MORE:
Encyclopedia of Arkansass: Chinese
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Chinese immigrants often lived American dream in Arkansas
Arkansas Online: Chinese Americans in Arkansas
Southern Foodways Alliance: Chinese Grocers
Arkansas Chinese Heritage: Diverse Communities: The Legacy of Chinese Americans in Arkansas
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