Historical Chinatowns in Nanaimo

Last updated

Nanaimo, British Columbia had four Chinatown sites beginning in the 1800s. [1]

Contents

First Chinatown

The first was a dock area in Downtown Nanaimo in proximity to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) terminal that existed in the 1860s. [2] This was on Victoria Crescent, [3] and the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company (VCC) had constructed several structures that became the Chinatown housing. [4] Tensions with Whites were minimized as the Chinatown was separated by the Commercial Inlet. 13 Chinese were in Nanaimo in 1867. There were 36 Chinese in Nanaimo by 1871. In 1874 there were 200 Chinese in the Chinatown; the city had incorporated that year. In 1877 300 people, 296 of whom were coal miners employed by the VCC, lived in the Nanaimo Chinatown and that of Wellington, which at the time was a separate community. 206 of the miners lived in Nanaimo and 90 lived in Wellington. A Chinatown appeared in South Wellington after the Dumsmuir, Diggle & Company (DDC) purchased a South Wellington coal mine in 1879. [4]

In the initial stage of the Chinatown's development Yee Kee & Company, according to David Chuenyan Lai, author of Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada, was "probably" the largest of the two to three stores serving Nanaimo's Chinatown. [4] In 1882 there were now five stores. In addition the community had a tailor shop and two hand laundries, so it had a total number of eight businesses. Hong & Hing Company, an importer/exporter of Chinese goods that purchased them from Victoria and sold them to South Wellington and Wellington businesses, was the largest company. [5]

Second Chinatown

The Chinatown was relocated to an area near the Nanaimo city limits in 1884. Pamela Mar, an area historian, stated that Robert Dunsmuir's 1883 strikebreaking with Chinese scabs that had caused resentment among white miners and an influx of Chinese workers for the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway were two contributing factors behind the move. Mar also stated that the white business district needed more land and that it was going to use the land originally used for Chinatown. The second Nanaimo Chinatown became a part of the city limits in 1887. There were 228 Chinese in Nanaimo in 1891. [3] 600 Chinese, most of whom were residents of Chinatown, resided in Nanaimo in 1901. [6] This Chinatown became the third largest in the province, and the second largest on Vancouver Island after that of Victoria. [4]

Chinese from Cumberland, Extension, Northfield, South Wellington, and Wellington patronized this Chinatown. [3]

The second site had been abandoned because a fuel company that had acquired the land occupied by the second site had raised rents. [2] Mah Bing Kee and Ching Chung Yung had purchased the site in 1908 and this resulted in the move. [1]

Currently Bayview Elementary School occupies the site of the second Chinatown. [3]

Third and fourth Chinatowns

The third site opened along Pine Street in 1908. [3] It opened on an 8 acres (3.2 ha) site in the outlying areas of Nanaimo, [2] and was initially purchased by the Lun Yick Company (the name in Chinese means "Together We Prosper"). [3] Chinatown began declining in the 1920s due to a decline in the coal mining industry. [7] A satellite Chinatown opened on MacLeary Street in the 1920s. [1] Land Yick began failing. [4] Rising China Holding Company (Chinese :華興實業公司; pinyin :Huáxīng Shíyè Gōngsī, Cantonese: Wa-Hing Shat-ip Kung-Sz), an all-Chinese, [2] nonprofit agency, was formed. It purchased the Chinatown after receiving 4,000 shares of stock that had been purchased by ethnic Chinese. This act prevented remaining Chinese businesses from going into receivership. [4]

There were 298 Chinese in Nanaimo in 1941. [7] On September 30, 1960 the third Chinatown was destroyed by a fire. [1] 200 persons lost their houses, and most of those affected were senior citizens. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Chinese immigration to Canada</span>

Chinese immigrants began settling in Canada in the 1780s. The major periods of Chinese immigration would take place from 1858 to 1923 and 1947 to the present day, reflecting changes in the Canadian government's immigration policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanaimo</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Nanaimo is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating from the shoreline like the spokes of a wagon wheel, and to its relatively central location on Vancouver Island. Nanaimo is the headquarters of the Regional District of Nanaimo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saysutshun (Newcastle Island Marine) Park</span> Canadian provincial park

Saysutshun Provincial Park, formally known as Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park, is a provincial park located on a small island off the coast of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island Rail Corridor</span> Railway history of the Island Corridor

The Island Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, is a railway operation on Vancouver Island. It is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, a registered charity. The railway line is 225 kilometres (140 mi) in length from Victoria to Courtenay, known as the Victoria Subdivision, with a branch line from Parksville to Port Alberni, known as the Port Alberni Subdivision, of 64 kilometres (40 mi), for a total 289 kilometres (180 mi) of mainline track. In 2006, the Island Corridor Foundation acquired the railway's ownership from RailAmerica and Canadian Pacific Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan, British Columbia</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Duncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area in Canada. It was incorporated in 1912.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1887 Nanaimo mine explosion</span> 1887 mine explosion in British Columbia

The Nanaimo mine explosion occurred on May 3, 1887, in Nanaimo, British Columbia killing 150 miners. Only seven miners survived and the mine burned for one full day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Dunsmuir</span> Canadian businessman and politician

Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland, British Columbia</span> Village in British Columbia, Canada

Cumberland is an incorporated village municipality east of Perseverance Creek, near the east coast of central Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Comox Valley community is west of BC Highway 19 and is by road about 105 kilometres (65 mi) northwest of Nanaimo and 10 kilometres (6 mi) southwest of Courtenay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Vancouver</span>

The history of Vancouver, British Columbia, is one that extends back thousands of years, with its first inhabitants arriving in the area following the Last Glacial Period. With its location on the western coast of Canada near the mouth of the Fraser River and on the waterways of the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound, Burrard Inlet, and their tributaries, Vancouver has – for thousands of years – been a place of meeting, trade, and settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKWV-FM</span> Radio station in Nanaimo, British Columbia

CKWV-FM is a Canadian radio station located in Nanaimo, British Columbia. It broadcasts on 102.3 FM and is owned by Island Radio, a division of the Jim Pattison Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Victoria</span> Oldest Chinatown in Canada located in Victoria, British Columbia

The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. Victoria's Chinatown had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century in the mass influx of miners from California to what is now British Columbia in 1858. It remains an actively inhabited place and continues to be popular with residents and visitors, many of whom are Chinese-Canadians. Victoria's Chinatown is now surrounded by cultural, entertainment venues as well as being a venue itself. Chinatown is now conveniently just minutes away from other sites of interests such as the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, Bay Centre, Empress Hotel, Market Square, and others.

The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) is a historical Chinese association established in various parts of the United States and Canada with large Chinese communities. The association's clientele were Chinese immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly from eight districts on the west side of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, southern China, and their descendants. The later wave of Chinese immigrants, after 1965, who came from a much wider area in China, did not experience the level of hostility faced by the pioneers and did not join the CCBA, which greatly lessened its influence.

Wellington, formerly a separate district and town, is a neighbourhood of north Nanaimo, on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The Wellington station located in the Wellington area of Nanaimo, British Columbia, was a flag stop on Via Rail's Dayliner service, which ended in 2011. The station is on the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island mainline. The station was named after the town of Wellington which formed around and next to the Wellington Colliery which was named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, a leading British military and political figure in the 19th century.

Chinatowns in Canada generally exist in the large cities of Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal, and existed in some smaller towns throughout the history of Canada. Prior to 1900, almost all Chinese were located in British Columbia, but have spread throughout Canada thereafter. From 1923 to 1967, immigration from China was suspended due to exclusion laws. In 1997, the handover of Hong Kong to China caused many from there to flee to Canada due to uncertainties. Canada had about 25 Chinatowns across the country between the 1930s to 1940s, some of which have ceased to exist.

Windsor's West Side neighbourhood is home to a Chinatown. As of 2012 it is the largest Chinatown in proximity to Detroit, Michigan.

Extension is an unincorporated community near the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The location off BC Highway 19 is about 107 kilometres (66 mi) by road northwest of Victoria, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Nanaimo.

The history of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia began with the first recorded visit by Chinese people to North America in 1788. Some 30–40 men were employed as shipwrights at Nootka Sound in what is now British Columbia, to build the first European-type vessel in the Pacific Northwest, named the North West America. Large-scale immigration of Chinese began seventy years later with the advent of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858. During the gold rush, settlements of Chinese grew in Victoria and New Westminster and the "capital of the Cariboo" Barkerville and numerous other towns, as well as throughout the colony's interior, where many communities were dominantly Chinese. In the 1880s, Chinese labour was contracted to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Following this, many Chinese began to move eastward, establishing Chinatowns in several of the larger Canadian cities.

Lynne Bowen is a Canadian non-fiction writer, historian, professor, and journalist, best known for her popular historical books about Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Over the years, Bowen has won awards such as the Eaton's British Columbia Book Award (1983), the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Writing British Columbia History (1987), and the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (1993).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Introduction Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine " (Archive). Nanaimo Chinatowns Project, Malaspina University-College. Retrieved on February 15, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Willmott, W.E. "Some aspects of Chinese communities in British Columbia Towns" (Archive). BC Studies . No. 1. (Winter 1968-1969). p. 27-36. See profile. -- CITED: p. 33.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Chinese Community" (Archive). Vancouver Island University. Retrieved on February 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. UBC Press, October 1, 2007. ISBN   0774844183, 9780774844185. p. 39.
  5. ↑ Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. UBC Press, October 1, 2007. ISBN   0774844183, 9780774844185. p. 45.
  6. ↑ Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. UBC Press, October 1, 2007. ISBN   0774844183, 9780774844185. p. 73.
  7. 1 2 Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. UBC Press, October 1, 2007. ISBN   0774844183, 9780774844185. p. 77.

Further reading

This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed."

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.