Chinatown - The Neighborhood That Refused to Move

Photo: Ligocsicnarf89, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on San Francisco, District by District, a free self-guided tour.

Chinese immigrants arrived with the Gold Rush, and by the 1850s these blocks around Portsmouth Square were the heart of one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America. Here newcomers found family associations, temples, shops and safety in numbers. They needed it. Chinese workers mined, built the railroads and raised Delta levees, yet faced special taxes, segregated schools and mob violence. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first major federal law to bar immigrants by nationality, and it was not repealed until 1943.

The 1906 earthquake and fire leveled Chinatown, and city leaders tried to move its residents to the edge of town. Merchants and the Chinese government pushed back and rebuilt fast, giving the new buildings pagoda roofs and bright trim that drew visitors and made the district hard to remove.

Walk up California Street, or ride the California cable car to Grant Avenue. The mini tour takes about an hour; use the details arrow.

Getting here: From the Barbary Coast, walk west on Pacific Avenue to Grant Avenue and turn left, about five minutes.

Did you know?: Sun Yat-sen raised money in San Francisco's Chinatown for the revolution that toppled China's last dynasty in 1911, and a Beniamino Bufano statue of him stands in St. Mary's Square.

Photo op: Stand on Grant Avenue at Sacramento Street and look south to frame the red lanterns strung over the street between the pagoda-roofed buildings.

More on Wikipedia: Chinatown, San Francisco · Chinese Exclusion Act · 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Stops on this tour

1. Ferry Building and the Embarcadero - Where the City Met the World
   • The Grand Nave - A Ferry Terminal Reborn
   • Harry Bridges Plaza - The Freeway That Fell
   • Steuart and Mission - Bloody Thursday
   • Rincon Annex - Murals That Reached Congress
2. Financial District and Jackson Square - Gold Rush on the Old Shoreline
   • Clay and Sansome - The Ship Under the Street
   • Transamerica Pyramid - The Site of Halleck's Folly
   • Jackson Square - The Brick Survivors
   • Pacific Avenue - The Barbary Coast
3. Chinatown - The Neighborhood That Refused to Move
   • Dragon Gate - Chinatown's Front Door
   • Old St. Mary's - The Clock With a Warning
   • Chinese Historical Society - Julia Morgan's YWCA
   • Waverly Place - The Street of Temples
   • Portsmouth Square - Where the City Began
4. North Beach and Telegraph Hill - Little Italy and the Beats
   • Columbus Tower - The Green Flatiron
   • City Lights - The Howl Trial
   • Saints Peter and Paul - Washington Square's Spires
   • Coit Tower - Murals on the Hilltop
   • Filbert Steps - Gardens on the Cliff
5. Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships
   • Hyde Street Pier - Where Cars Took the Ferry
   • Aquatic Park Bathhouse - A Building Shaped Like a Ship
   • Ghirardelli Square - A Factory Saved
6. Nob Hill and Russian Hill - Cable Cars, Mansions and the Great Fire
   • Fairmont Hotel - Rebuilt by Julia Morgan
   • Flood Mansion - The Survivor in Brownstone
   • Grace Cathedral - On the Crocker Ruins
   • Cable Car Museum - The Working Powerhouse
   • Lombard Street - Russian Hill's Eight Turns
7. The Presidio - Two Centuries Guarding the Golden Gate
   • Officers' Club - Adobe Inside the Walls
   • Building 640 - The Secret Language School
   • Crissy Field - From World's Fair to Airfield to Marsh
   • Fort Point - The Fort Under the Bridge
8. Japantown and the Fillmore - Two Communities, One Neighborhood
   • Peace Plaza - Built on Redevelopment
   • Buchanan Mall - Ruth Asawa's Fountains
   • Kinmon Gakuen - The Line on Bush Street
   • Bop City - The House That Moved
   • The Fillmore - From Dance Hall to Rock Palace
9. Haight-Ashbury - From Victorian Suburb to Summer of Love
   • The Panhandle - Free Food and Free Concerts
   • 710 Ashbury - The Grateful Dead House
   • Haight Ashbury Free Clinic - Care Without Questions
   • Hippie Hill - The Park's Gathering Place
10. Golden Gate Park - Sand Dunes Turned Into a Park
    • Conservatory of Flowers - A Glass House From a Kit
    • Music Concourse - The 1894 World's Fair
    • Japanese Tea Garden - The Hagiwara Family's Garden
11. The Castro - A Neighborhood That Became a Movement
    • Pink Triangle Park - A Memorial in Granite
    • Castro Theatre - The Neighborhood's Movie Palace
    • Castro and 18th - The Honor Walk and the Crossroads
    • Castro Camera - Harvey Milk's Storefront
12. The Mission - Where San Francisco Began
    • Mission Dolores Chapel - Adobe From 1791
    • The Golden Fire Hydrant - The Hydrant That Saved the Mission
    • The Women's Building - MaestraPeace
    • Clarion Alley - A Gallery Without Walls
    • Balmy Alley - Murals of the Americas
13. Civic Center - Domes, Charters and Protest
    • City Hall - Under the Golden Dome
    • War Memorial - Where the UN Charter Was Signed
    • Civic Auditorium - Built for the 1915 Fair
    • Asian Art Museum - The Old Main Library
    • 50 United Nations Plaza - The 504 Sit-In
14. South of Market - From Rincon Hill to the Tech Boom
    • The Old Mint - The Granite Lady
    • Yerba Buena Gardens - A Waterfall of Words
    • South Park - London Square to Dot-Com Hub
    • Salesforce Park - The City Above the Street