The Hidden Chinatown of San Francisco

Look Tin Eli is not a popular name unless you study Chinese-American history. Yet arguably, his greatest contribution was how he became the chief negotiator for the rebuilding of Chinatown after the 1906 Earthquake and fire, and can be considered the father of all modern Chinatowns.  Early Life Look Tin Eli (aka Look Tin Sing) was born in Mendocino, California, in 1870 to Luk Bing-Tai (known locally as Eli Tia Key) and Su Wong. Luk the elder originally worked as a cook for the local magnate upon arrival, but was able to raise enough money to open a general store in town. Luk the elder's bride is actually Native American, but raised by a Chinese American family. The couple had four children: 3 sons and 1 daughter including Look Tin Eli. The elder Luk decided that all of his sons needed a proper Chinese education, so he sent each of his sons back to China at the age of 9. Look Tin Eli left in 1879. The decision was likely based on the fact that back then Chinese Americans are not all...

NOTE: Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, is technically on the very edge of Chinatown on the border of North Beach, Chinatown, and the Financial District. As it's on the east side of Kearny, it is technically not in Chinatown, but it is so close, I am including it as a bonus.  At the northeastern corner of Chinatown, at the corner of Kearny, Columbus, and Pacific, is a building that stands out, being mostly green, and triangular in shape. This is the Sentinel Building, aka Columbus Tower.  Google Maps 3D View of 916 Kearny, the Sentinel Building Finished in 1907, the building was actually under construction when the city suffered the Great Earthquake of 1906. As architecture goes, this was considered a Beaux-Arts flatiron building, mainly built between 1880 and 1926, and they are unique in that they are shaped like old fashion iron for clothes, and used when odd lot shapes require unusual building shapes for maximum square footage. Unique for their time, flat...

This First Chinese Baptist Church stood unique among all Chinatown buildings in that it incorporates clinker bricks in its facade. Originally built in 1888, it was rebuilt after the 1906 Earthquake and fire. The congregation, with assistance from other Baptist churches across the US, was able to rebuild, and they chose a very western choice: walls studded with that's known as "clinker bricks". These bricks are darker, and gnarled, and are named for the sound they make when you clink them together.  First Chinese Baptist Church, 15 Waverly Pl, SF CA 94108 courtesy author Close-up of the gnarled clinker bricks among regular bricks Clinker bricks are made by exposing unfired bricks to hotter fire for longer so the surfaces sintered and thus are SEALED, unlike regular bricks which are porous. Therefore, the clinker bricks barely absorb any water, and are denser and heavier than regular bricks, thus more stable.  NOTE:  Some claim the clinker bricks were reclaimed from the rub...

Waverly Pl was far more than just an alley in San Francisco. During the earliest days of San Francisco, it was apparently known as "Pike Street", at least until the 1906 Earthquake. I cannot find any historical references on when the name was changed. Many references imply state "Waverly Pl, (formerly Pike St.) while other references imply stated Pike St. Even from the earliest days in Chinatown, it was known as a place of brothels, and allegedly both Bella Cora and Ah Toy, the two most famous madams of Chinatown, have brothels at or very close to Pike St. (later Waverly Pl). For a while, the brothels co-existed with barbers on the same street, where sailors and miners can get a haircut and a shave for 5 cents, and later, 10 cents. So the area was also known as Five Cent Street or Ten Cent Street for a while. But the street remained mired with vices.  A "crime map" prepared for SF City Supervisors in 1885, note the blue and red vices mapped.  courtesy Cornell U...

Most people may have heard of Ross Alley in Chinatown, but few would have paid attention to a smaller alley just uphill from it that has two names: Old Chinatown Lane... and Donaldina Cameron Alley, probably because both pointed to a dark part of Chinatown history that's not exactly... tourist-friendly.  Old Chinatown Lane // Donaldina Cameron Alley Previously we had discussed the rise and fall of the Tongs in Chinatown , and one of the more profitable and despicable activities the Tongs engaged in was the human trafficking... of young girls, both as servants and as prostitutes. We also mentioned Donaldina Cameron then. What we did not mention were the horrible conditions the girls worked under. The very young ones are sent off to work as servants as child slave labor. The prettier ones were sold as concubines. The less fortunate, too old to be servants, were forced into working for brothels. Even though there were supposedly contracts that would allow them to work off their d...