As an amateur historian and tour guide, I gathered a lot of interesting bits of information about San Francisco Chinatown that most people are not generally aware of. I use them occasionally on my tour guide job. Here they are, in no particular order:
San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the US (but not the Largest)
San Francisco Chinatown was dubbed Chinatown by the local press in 1853. Before then, it was known as little Canton. However, its growth is limited due to its size: only 24 square blocks, less than 1/8th of a square mile. Officially, the population is 35000 as per 2000 census, but the actual number is believed to be 100000.
By population and area, the Chinatown in Manhattan, New York, is larger: 40 square blocks, with about 150000 residents.
The Chinatown You See Today is a Rebranding Effort in 1906
After 1906 Earthquake and fire, the city asked Chinatown to undergo what we today would consider a "rebranding", to a more family-friendly version that caters to tourists, and use Western architects to do so. Most of them, including the famous T. Patterson Ross, had no idea what Chinese buildings looked like, so they were given some old reference books on Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) architecture and told to make the buildings look like that.
This is why Sing Fat and the Sing Chong buildings on the corner of Grant and California, ended up looking the way they are, as they are modeled after "ancient (medieval) China".
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| Sing Chong building, corner of Grant and California, circa 1920s) (photo courtesy of Chinese Historical Society |
Despite the fact that China, in 1900s, looked actually like this:
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| Shanghai Tea Shops, Shanghai, China (courtesy of New York Library Collection) |
The Iconic Dragon Gate In Chinatown Was Not Installed until 1970
Chinatown had no ceremonial gate until the installation of the Dragon Gate, aka Chinatown Gate. There were talks of building such a gate as far back as 1953, but it was not until 1967 that then San Francisco major John F. Shelley sponsored a design contest that the effort was truly underway, and the gate suffered extensive delays, and was finally dedicated on October 18, 1970.
Since then, the gateway has been added to Chinatowns all across the nation, and indeed, across the world.
This also means that this is NOT the oldest gateway into any Chinatown. That honor actually goes to Hill Street Gate in Los Angeles, also known as Chinatown West Gate, built in 1938.
Tin How Temple Was the First Taoist Temple Built In the US
Now located at 125 Waverly Pl, Tin How Temple is for the worship of the deity Mazu (lit: mother ancestor), who also goes by her title, Tin How (Empress of Heaven).
Mazu's so important to Chinese Americans, there are actually TWO Mazu temples in San Francisco Chinatown.
In fact, the Chinese name for Waverly Pl. is 天后廟街 (lit: Empress of Heaven Temple Street). That makes Tin How Temple the only temple with a street name after it, and as far as I know, the only one in the world. There is a 廟街 in Hong Kong, which is named after the Mazu temple on that road, but the name was rather generic.
The Chinatown Telephone Exchange Building And Its Banking Names
Probably the only single-story building left in Chinatown, the East/West Bank branch at 743 Washington Street (cross Grant), next to Grant Place Restaurant. used to house the Chinatown Telephone Exchange, but we're here to talk about the building.
To make a long story short, the building housed the Chinatown Telephone Exchange, until 1949, when rotary dial phones made manual operators mostly obsolete. So the exchange was closed, and the building sat vacant for a long time, as the owner, the city, will not allow the new owners to change the front facade. So the building sat vacant for a decade until the Bank of Canton (of California) bought it and refurbished it in 1960, promising to keep the front exactly the way it was except for adding their name to it.
In 2002, United Commercial Bank acquired the Bank of Canton. Then in 2009, East West Bank acquired United Commercial Bank. This is why today, you see it as an East/West Bank.
The Various "Banks of Canton" and Their Links to Chinatown
There were SEVERAL banks with similar names linked to Chinatown: Canton Bank, Bank of Canton (of Hong Kong), and Bank of Canton (of California). There is also a "Bank of Canton (of Massachusetts)" which is not related.
First was a Chinese-American bank called Canton Bank (of San Francisco). Canton Bank originally opened in 1907 and was backed by prominent businessman Look Tin Eli (who also had a major hand in rebuilding Chinatown) to help finance the rebuilding of Chinatown, and it quickly became the go-to bank for the Chinese community. But the bank ran into difficulties in 1923 and was ordered to close in 1926 by the Superintendent of banks.
The first Bank of Canton in the US opened in 1924 as a branch bank from China and closed in 1935 when China went off the silver standard and the main bank failed.
A new Bank of Canton (of California) was opened in 1937 as a solely American venture, and that's the one that got acquired by United Commercial Bank.
This should not be confused with the OTHER Bank of Canton, in Massachusetts.
Chinese Hospital is the ONLY Independent Hospital Remaining in San Francisco
Originally organized as "Tung Wah Dispensary" in 1899, it took decades of work by various community organizations to finally open the Chinese Hospital in 1925 at 835 Jackson. Before that, Chinese Americans were regularly turned away from other hospitals, and blamed for common ailments such as the spread of TB. Therefore it is especially ironic that 120+ years later, Chinese Americans were again, blamed for a disease, such as COVID.
Today, the original building with the original sign is gone, torn down in 2012 to make way for the new and improved Chinese Hospital.
The Chinese Name For San Francisco is (sometimes) "Old Gold Mountain" 舊金山
The official American sources such as the US Congress or Voice of America refer to San Francisco's Chinese name as 舊金山 (lit: Old Gold Mountain), but many sources uses the alternate name, 三藩市 (lit: San Fan City). There is no official term.
In case you're wondering where is the new gold mountain, there are two versions: it's either Melbourne Australia, where they did find some gold, or it was referring to Alaska.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed these eight bits of San Francisco Chinatown knowledge. Comment if you want to see more
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