Chinatown, Boise

Last updated
Chinese Odd Fellows Building, 610-612 Front Street, Boise, Idaho, USA. Designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel/Clifton & Corbridge, 1911-1912. Chinese Odd Fellows Building, Boise.jpg
Chinese Odd Fellows Building, 610-612 Front Street, Boise, Idaho, USA. Designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel/Clifton & Corbridge, 1911–1912.

The historic Chinatown in downtown Boise, Idaho existed around the 1870s to 1960s. [1] The area was located along Idaho Street, and east from 8th Street along Front Street and Grove Street. Over the years, Boise's Chinatown consisted of multiple Chinese owned residencies and businesses including restaurants, merchandise stores, laundries, two herbal medicine shops operated by three generations of the Ah-Fong family, a Chinese Masonic Hall, and a Hip Sing Tong and Hop Sing Tong.

Contents

Early immigrants to Boise's Chinatown were mainly from six districts in the Guangdong Province in China (previously Kwangtung Province). [1] [2] It is unknown how many people of Chinese origin or descent lived in Boise's Chinatown over the years. In the U.S. 1870 Census, 1,754 Chinese people lived in Boise, which made up 45.7% of the total population of Boise (3,834). [3]

Around 1901, the city condemned wooden Chinatown buildings along Idaho Street for being fire-prone. By the 1960s, most Chinese residents moved (or were forced) out of the Boise Chinatown's core. [1] Urban renewal is blamed for the final destruction of Boise's Chinatown. Using eminent domain, the Boise Redevelopment Agency claimed and subsequently demolished seven downtown city blocks between 1968 and 1971, this included nearly all of Boise's Chinatown. [4] The Chinese Odd Fellows Building is one of the last surviving buildings and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Reference to Boise's Chinatown in Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) by Amy Westover Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) by Amy Westover reference to Boise's Chinatown Close-up wiki 1.jpg
Reference to Boise's Chinatown in Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) by Amy Westover
Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) image of a man selling produce from a Model T Ford in 1927 Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) image of Boise's Chinatown.jpg
Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) image of a man selling produce from a Model T Ford in 1927

In 2001, Boise City funded Dwaine Carver's Historical Sight: Boise China, which consisted of three red viewers that featured images of Boise's Chinatown. [5] [6] The viewers were located on Grove Plaza, Capitol & Front Street, and Capitol & Grove Street. Another public artwork, Grove Street Illuminated & Boise Canal (2003) by Amy Westover, references the Chinatown History of Boise.

Residents and families of residents were originally buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise and the Chinese Cemetery near Warren, Idaho.

Notable residents

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boise, Idaho</span> Capital city of Idaho, United States

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,684 people residing in the city. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho City, Idaho</span> Town in Idaho, United States

Idaho City is a town in, and the county seat of, Boise County, Idaho, United States, located about 36 miles (58 km) northeast of Boise. The population was 485 at the 2010 census, up from 458 in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tong (organization)</span> Organizations or secret societies of Chinese immigrants in Western cities

A tong is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants predominantly living in the United States, with smaller numbers in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In Chinese, the word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity. In the 1990s, in most American Chinatowns, clearly marked tong halls could easily be found, many of which have had affiliations with Chinese organized crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States

The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture. San Francisco's Chinatown is also renowned as a major tourist attraction, drawing more visitors annually than the Golden Gate Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho Territory</span> Territory of the U.S. between 1863–1890

The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Locke, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Locke, also known as Locke Historic District, is an unincorporated community in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta of California, United States. The 14-acre town (5.7 ha) was first developed between 1893 and 1915 approximately one mile north of the town of Walnut Grove in Sacramento County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Chicago</span> Neighborhood in Armour Square, Chicago, United States

Chinatown is a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, along S. Wentworth Avenue between Cermak Road and W. 26th St. Over a third of Chicago's Chinese population resides in this ethnic enclave, making it one of the largest concentrations of Chinese-Americans in the United States. It formed around 1912, after settlers moved south from near the Loop, where the first enclaves were established in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Oakland</span> Neighborhood of Oakland in Alameda, California, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Chinatown, Boston is a neighborhood located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving historic ethnic Chinese enclave in New England since the demise of the Chinatowns in Providence, Rhode Island and Portland, Maine after the 1950s. Because of the high population of Asians and Asian Americans living in this area of Boston, there is an abundance of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants located in Chinatown. It is one of the most densely populated residential areas in Boston and serves as the largest center of its East Asian and Southeast Asian cultural life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871</span> Riotous lynching

The Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 was a racial massacre targeting Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, California, United States that occurred on October 24, 1871. Approximately 500 white and Hispanic Americans attacked, harassed, robbed, and murdered the ethnic Chinese residents in what is today referred to as the old Chinatown neighborhood. The massacre took place on Calle de los Negros, also referred to as "Negro Alley". The mob gathered after hearing that a policeman and a rancher had been killed as a result of a conflict between rival tongs, the Nin Yung, and Hong Chow. As news of their death spread across the city, fueling rumors that the Chinese community "were killing whites wholesale", more men gathered around the boundaries of Negro Alley. A few 21st-century sources have described this as the largest mass lynching in American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing Kong Tong</span> Chinese-American fraternal organization

The Bing Kong Tong was one of the powerful Tongs in San Francisco's Chinatown during the early 20th century. Since most, if not all, Chinatowns founded in the 19th-century United States were founded by migrants from the province of Canton, many place names were transliterated from the Cantonese dialect. The word 堂, "tong" or "tong4", means "hall".

The Hip Sing Association or HSA, formerly known as the Hip Sing Tong, is a Chinese-American criminal organization/gang formed as a labor organization in New York City's Chinatown during the early 20th century. The Cantonese name "Hip Sing" translates roughly to "cooperating for success." The Hip Sing Tong, along with their rivals the Four Brothers and the On Leong Tong, would be involved in violent Tong wars for control of Chinatown during the early 1900s. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Hip Sings were involved in drug trafficking operations with the Kuomintang (KMT) and later the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). They would later establish chapters in Chinese-American communities throughout the United States in major cities such as Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco. Recently some branches have begun to transform back into the legitimate fraternal organization they started as over a century prior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doyers Street</span> Street in Manhattan, New York

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yue Hwa Building</span> Department store located in Chinatown, Singapore

Yue Hwa Building is a historic building located at the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street and Upper Cross Street in Chinatown, Singapore, next to Chinatown MRT station. Built by Swan and Maclaren in 1927, it was then the tallest building in Chinatown and was known as Nam Tin Building (南天大厦), owned by Lum Chang Holdings. The building housed the six-storey Great Southern Hotel, along with a few shops and cabarets that were popular among Chinese travellers. In 1993, Lum Chang Holdings sold the building to Hong Kong businessman Yu Kwok Chun, who converted it to the first Yue Hwa Chinese Products department store in Singapore in 1994. The renovation process, which conserved the exterior while adding features such as an atrium and waterfall to the interior, won the building the Architectural Heritage Award by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Idaho</span> Overview of and topical guide to Idaho

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Idaho:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John E. Tourtellotte</span> American architect

John Everett Tourtellotte was a prominent western American architect, best known for his projects in Idaho. His work in Boise included the Idaho State Capitol, the Boise City National Bank, the Carnegie Library, and numerous other buildings for schools, universities, churches, and government institutions. From 1922 to 1930, he worked in Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatowns in the United States</span> Ethnic Chinese enclaves in the United States

Chinatowns are enclaves of Chinese people outside of China. The first Chinatown in the United States was San Francisco's Chinatown in 1848, and many other Chinatowns were established in the 19th century by the Chinese diaspora on the West Coast. By 1875, Chinatowns had emerged in eastern cities such as New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese immigration to the United States, but the Magnuson Act of 1943 repealed it, and the population of Chinatowns began to rise again. In the 2010s, the downturn in the U.S. economy caused many Chinese Americans to return to China.

The Tong Wars were a series of violent disputes beginning in the late 19th century among rival Chinese Tong factions centered in the Chinatowns of various American cities, in particular San Francisco. Tong wars could be triggered by a variety of inter-gang grievances, from the public besmirching of another Tong's honor, to failure to make full payment for a "slave girl", to the murder of a rival Tong member. Each Tong had salaried soldiers, known as boo how doy, who fought in Chinatown alleys and streets over the control of opium, prostitution, gambling, and territory.

As of 2012, 21.4% of the population in San Francisco was of Chinese descent, and there were at least 150,000 Chinese American residents. The Chinese are the largest Asian American subgroup in San Francisco. San Francisco has the highest percentage of residents of Chinese descent of any major U.S. city, and the second largest Chinese American population, after New York City. The San Francisco Area is 7.9% Chinese American, with many residents in Oakland and Santa Clara County. San Francisco's Chinese community has ancestry mainly from Guangdong province, China and Hong Kong, although there is a sizable population of ethnic Chinese with ancestry from other parts of mainland China and Taiwan as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Denver</span> Neighborhood of Denver in Colorado, United States

Chinatown in Denver, Colorado, was a residential and business district of Chinese Americans in what is now the LoDo section of the city. It was also referred to as "Hop Alley", based upon a slang word for opium. The first Chinese resident of Denver, Hong Lee, arrived in 1869 and lived in a shanty at Wazee and F Streets and ran a washing and ironing laundry business. More Chinese immigrants arrived in the town the following year. Men who had worked on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad or had been miners in California crossed over the Rocky Mountains after their work was completed or mines were depleted in California.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Felton, Ann (19 June 2014). "Second Chinatown: It's Rise and Fall". Center for Idaho History and Politics, Boise State University. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  2. Kingsbury, Larry (July 2002). "Warren Chinese Cemetery". Idaho County IDGenWeb Project. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau: 1870. "Table II. Territory of Idaho." https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-06.pdf
  4. Shelton, Tamara (2019). Herbs and Roots. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 200. ISBN   9780300249408.
  5. "Historic Site: Boise Chinatown | Boise Arts & History". www.boiseartsandhistory.org. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
  6. "Public Arts Program, Policies & Guidelines." Boise City Department of Arts & History. https://web.archive.org/web/20210427192633/https://www.boiseartsandhistory.org/media/2708/pa-reader.pdf
  7. Devitt, Michael (October 2011). "The Curious Case of Ah Fong Chuck, America's First 'Licensed' Acupuncturist". Journal of Chinese Medicine. 97: 5–12.
  8. "Objective Description: Idaho State Historical Museum Chinese Remedies and Herbs shop replica. Washington State University Vancouver Library". WSU Libraries Digital Collections. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  9. "'Home Holdout' In Boise To Be Moved". The Herald-Journal (Logan, Utah). 14 June 1972. p. 6. Retrieved 30 October 2022.