Chinatown — San Jose
I never knew San Jose had a Chinatown until I started my research. The first recognized Chinatown started in the 1850's and the last in the 1930's. There were 5 Chinatowns. Each was burned down by people who blamed economic troubles on the Chinese. They were:
1866–1870 First Market Street Chinatown http://marketstreet.stanford.edu/
1870–1872 Vine Street Chinatown
1871–1887 Second Market Street Chinatown
1887–1902 Woolen mills Chinatown http://www.chcp.org/woolen.html
1887–1931 Heinlenville (Sixth Street Chinatown)
John Heinlen and Heinlenville
Site of last Chinatown at between 6th and 7th streets, known as Heinlenville.
John Heinlen was a German immigrant who came to California in the 1850’s. He bought real estate in California and became very wealthy. He was not afraid to rent to the Chinese and after the Market Street Chinatown was destroyed by fire he offered to rent his land to Chinese merchants. The block between Sixth Street, Seventh Street, Taylor and Jackson become Chinatown. Heinlen’s family lost everything during the 1930 depression and that brought about the end of the last Chinatown.
The site was home to the San Jose corporation yard. Now those building are gone and archaeological excavations are being done on the site. Many Chinese artifacts have been recovered.
These sites have information on Heinlenville
http://www.sonoma.edu/asc/projects/sanjose/Part_of_San_Jose_History.pdf"
http://www.sonoma.edu/asc/projects/sanjose/SanJose.htm
Ng Shing Gung
Ng Shing Gung
Ng Shing Gung, Temple of the Five Gods, was built in 1888 in Heinlenville the same year that my painted lady was built. It would serve a cultural and religious center the for the Chinese community in San Jose. The building was demolished in 1949. Part of the outside of the building and the interior furnishings were saved and stored. They would later be used to build a replica of the temple in San Jose's history park. The new building is home to the Chinese American museum. There are exhibits that depict Chinese life in Santa Clara valley.
An excellent reference on the history of the Chinese community in San Jose is Chinese in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley by Lillian Gong–Guy and Gerrye Wong. http://www.chcp.org/