Posted: October 28th, 2008

Chinatown’s first location in Los Angeles was around Calle de los Negros (”Nigger Alley”), a rundown street that was home to brothels and plagued by crime. The earliest Chinese began arriving in 1850 in search of gold. By 1900, Old Chinatown was a mostly-male ghetto because the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented immigration of women. In 1933, the City forcibly evicted the residents and razed Old Chinatown to build Union Station. The Chinese then relocated to New Chinatown, a few blocks northwest and across from what is now the Los Angeles State Park at the Cornfield.

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