The Chinese in Emeryville History

The Chinese in Emeryville History

By Richard Ambro & Nancy Smith

During the middle of the nineteenth century, economic hardships in China forced many Chinese to seek improved conditions overseas. Because of the Gold Rush, Chinese Immigrants were able to find work as miners, laundry proprietors and cooks. After experiencing prejudice and hardship in the mining camps, many went to work on the railroads.

Historians believe that the first Chinese to land in the San Francisco Area and perhaps all of California were two Chinese men and a Chinese woman accompanying Charles V. Gillespie who arrived on the American ship Eagle on February 2, 1848.1 These were apparently the “two or three ‘Celestials’ who found ready employment,” reported in a San Francisco newspaper on April 1, 1848.

Gold was discovered on January 24, 1848 at Sutter’s mill, and by May the Gold Rush was on, with perhaps 150 men having left San Francisco for the gold fields.2 Among these were the two Chinese men who arrived aboard the Eagle in January.3 By the fall of 1849, the Chinese in San Francisco numbered “several hundred”, and by January, 1850, there were 787 Chinese men and two Chinese women living there.

Restaurants to Railroads

In the early 1850s, the Chinese were among the miners in the gold fields, and they soon encountered increasing animosity and violence from white miners. In 1852, the first expulsions of Chinese from mining districts occurred, and by 1855, such expulsions were Widespread. The expelled Chinese were forced to find other occupations, and fell to laboring in fishing, mining, and agriculture. Others worked as servants or in laundries and restaurants, and later as workers in Chinese-run factories producing cigars, shoes, and clothing. By the 1860s, the Chinese were also engaged in railroad construction.

Oakland became California’s main rail terminus in the 1860s with the help of Chinese workers. It was at this time that the Chinese came to Alameda County. settling on the 68 estuary in a location referred to as “Chinese Point.” They were forced by city ordinances to live only in certain areas, which became known as “Chinatowns”. These developed during periods of racial hostility, from 1865 to 1910. Although at one time the Chinese were contemptuously referred to as “Celestials,” their addition to the workforce was valued. However, after the Civil War, a depression ensued in which many veterans were out of work, and attitudes toward Chinese labor changed. A 1868 resolution to grant suffrage to persons of color excluded the Chinese, relegating them to inferior status.

“Chinese Did the Work”

We don’t know when the first Chinese arrived in the area of what was later Emeryville, but they were certainly present, if only as casual laborers in 1860. There were 193 Chinese in Alameda County in 1860 according to census data, some of whom lived in Oakland Township. In that year, the Census recorded two Chinese men, Ah San and Ah Tuck, working as laborers for G. Emmons, a neighbor of William Watts in the area to the south of Joseph Emery. In 1870, the Census revealed that pioneer settler Captain Frederick Coggeshall had a male Chinese servant Ah Sim in his employ, and that nearby seven Chinese men were employed as “grain binders,” presumably seasonal . workers. Undoubtedly other Chinese workers were employed seasonally in agriculture in the district before and after the taking of the census.

An account of the Chinese working on the railroad in what is now Emeryville recalled that:

“When the S.P. went in for double tracking, Chinese did the work, and had a camp on the bay near Emeryville. They burned their dead on the beach, and what a celebration they had when they placed roast pig, duck and fixings to keep the devil away or sustain the spirit in its long travel. The stL!ff disappeared, but was not taken by the devil.”

Insights From the Census

By the 1880s, the presence of Asians in the area had increased markedly. Some were servants, and the Census reveals that in addition to Captain Coggeshall’s Japanese ) servant, two families who lived close by to the north also had Asian servants. AC. Dietz had a male Chinese cook “D. Allin,” and his neighbor C.P. Elles had a male Chinese cook and male Chinese waiting servant.s Farther north, very near the home of James Landregan, J.W. Crawford had a male Chinese servant, Ah Low.10 It was not the presence of Chinese servants that aroused anti-Chinese feeling, but the numbers of Chinese agricultural and other workers. The 1880 Census tallied the residents of two such workers camps that illustrates both their numbers and character.

J. H. Snay [?l and his wife not only had a Japanese male servant, One Kiye, but a camp of 79 Chinese living on their land. Nearly all were listed as laborers, but the camp included four cooks, a blacksmith, a “bookkeeper” [tally keeper?], and a “store keeper,” presumably someone who sold goods to the Chinese. One of the laborers, 22-year-old Ah Luis had been born in New York of Cantonese parents, whereas all the rest had been born in China. This camp was located close to the growing complex of Butchertown, and some of these men may have worked there. Probably, however, more were engaged in agricultural work, possibly growing grain for feed for the livestock awaiting slaughter in Butchertown.

Another camp of 61 Chinese men was located at Lusk’s canning works, in which three were cooks and seven were described as farmers, the rest being listed as laborers. Lusk’s nursery and cannery operation was located farther east in the Temescal district of north Oakland. Old timers recalled the large fields of tomatoes and raspberries “by Temescal and out toward Berkeley” that were harvested by the Chinese and canned at Lusk’s. In 1900, there were still extensive Chinese farms or “gardens” just east of Emeryville. There were Chinese farms on the land of a Mr. McElrath that extended from where Children’s Hospital is now located at 54th Street east to the foothills.

The “Chinese Menace”

These Census records reveal that large numbers of Chinese were present in the area by the late 1870s and early 1880s, and were a familiar sight. Their all-male 69 camps were likely clusters of tents or wooden barracks where they ate. slept, and likely recreated in their spare time. The camps would have been essentially self-contained, and given growing anti-Chinese feelings in California. occupants almost certainly had little contact with Europeans outside of their work contexts. Such concentrations in north Oakland and elsewhere in California. as well as depressed economic conditions, led to increasing calls by the unemployed to restrict Chinese immigration. and for expulsion of Chinese or restriction on where they might live and what trades they might follow. By the 1870s. anti-Chinese sentiments were reaching a fever-pitch, culminating in the founding of the “Workingmen’s Party” which actively worked to contain or expel the “Chinese menace.”

The Irish, themselves recent immigrants, were especially antagonistic toward the Chinese. Social acceptance of the Chinese was further complicated by the presence of prostitution, lotteries, and gambling in the Chinese communities, as well as by the phenomenon of “highbinders.” These were members of secret societies used for the purposes of blackmail and assassination within their own ethnic group. Even so, the Chinese were indispensable as laborers because of their dependability and their willingness to work for relatively low wages.

“The Chinese Must Go”

Denis Kearney, an immigrant Irish drayman in San Francisco, became the leader of the Workingmen’s Party, and traveled Widely organizing against the Chinese. Lusk had large numbers of Chinese workers in the Temescal district, and others worked near Butchertown. There were rallies against the Chinese in Oakland and Emeryville. A flier for a Workingman’s Party picnic at Shell Mound Park in 1878 announced:

“SUNDAY MARCH 31ST: THE OPEN LATTER PICNIC WILL TAKE PLACE AT SHELL MOUND PARK, BERKELEY Under the Auspices of the WORKING MEN’S PARTY OF CALIFORNIA. WILLIS’ BAND of 16 Pieces. The Tenth Ward Independents Will Act as Guards of Honor The following Exercises will take place at the” Park, and Mayor Andrus, of Oakland, will preside: “D. Kearney, W. Wellock, H.L. Knight, M. Steinle. Mr. Gans, H.M. Moore, F. Rooney. and others will speak to the question, “The Chinese Must go.” Fine Interludes by the Band. Little Jennie Wellock…….. in recitation “Labor Shall Be King”……..Dancing will commence at 2 O’clock and continue until 5 o’clock P.M If it rains it will be postponed, but if the sun shines there will be a legion go.”

On February 3, 1879, Mayor Andrus spoke at length against the perceived threat of the Chinese presence in Oakland as follows:

“No greater calamity ever befell property-holders of San Francisco than the locating of the Chinese quarters in the very heart of the city. The district inhabited by Asiatics has been steadily increasing its boundaries, and a blight has fallen on the real estate, in what might have been a center of business. It is time that the authorities of this city should take proper precautions, if possible, to prevent such a misfortune from occurring here. If the measures pending in Congress become enacted into laws. there will be a cessation of Chinese emigration; but our past . experience leads us to be slow in building up expectations of this kind. We should proceed as if we knew that the Chinese were to continue coming, and to do what we can to mitigate the evils that are threatening. The council has the power to regulate such trades or occupations as may be nuisances, and under its general police powers, it could regulate the location of laundries or wash houses. In some neighborhoods they are nuisances, while in others the people have no objection to them. It has often happened that one of these establishments would be started in quiet neighborhoods, given up to residential purposes. which would seriously detract from the value of surrounding property. One individual should not have in its power to depreciate the value of the. real estate of others. The consent of at least a majority of persons owning property on a block ought to be obtained before a license should be given for carrying on a laundry. I believe that the Council has the undoubted right to do this. It concerns the welfare of real estate owners and would be a very great protection. As the wash-houses here are centers from which the Chinese quarters are likely to extend, such a regulation as 70 proposed would drive the Mongolian population to portions of the city where their presence would not depreciate the value of property. As a strictly sanitary regulation. all prisoners of the City Jail undergoing sentences should have their hair f cut short. It is a rule dictated by constitutions of cleanliness. and one that has been enforced in many American prisons from time out of mind. It should not be violated through any plea of religion or superstition. Its result might be the payment of fines by Chinese criminals, which is preferable to keeping them at public cost, and would be regarded by them as a more severe punishment. The presence of these people is in every way undesirable, and should be discouraged by every legal method. direct or indirect. Our own citizens cannot compete with them as laborers. because people who are American citizens are usually burdened with the responsibility of providing for a wife and children, while the Chinese are not. Not only the more humble laborers, but the whole body of mechanics are threatened with pauperization. The fears of most of the capitalists are becoming aroused. because they see that the life and energy of the country depend upon the prosperity of the masses. who must meet the wants and gratify some of the tastes of civilized life. The hordes of Asiatics have not these wants and tastes. They are an incubus upon our development. and the public opinion of the nation is last recognizing this fact,”

Bachelor Society

A branch of the Anti-Chinese league was formed in Emeryville in 1886 and they demanded that the Temescal District’s Lusk nursery discharge its Chinese workers. 16 The first Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 and suspended immigration of both skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers for ten years, although teachers, students, merchants and travelers were exempt from these provisions.17 The law also forbade extending United States citizenship to any Chinese person. Wives of residents were not admitted. The result was that many Chinese men remained single, or lived in the United States while their wives remained in China, resulting in a “bachelor society” of Chinese males with few women and families. By the turn of the century. the Chinese remained what was probably the least acculturated of the ethnic groups in the San Francisco Bay region.

Chinese men who were already citizens could still bring over their wives and families. but this right was taken away in 1924. However. the restrictions on admission of Chinese wives to join their spouses were loosened in 1932, provided they had been married prior to 1924.

The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the San Francisco Chinatown, and forced many Chinese refugees to find shelter in the East Bay. Many of the individuals and families who settled in Oakland never returned to San Francisco, instead staying in Oakland’s Chinatown or other areas. There appears to have been no appreciable increase in the numbers of Chinese in Emeryville as a direct result of the earthquake. However, the appearance of canneries and tolerance of gambling in Emeryville did attract the Chinese.

The 1910 census indicates that two households in the mostly Italian, French and Portuguese neighborhood of Butchertown were Chinese. A soap factory owner. his wife and their daughter lived at 1267-66th Street with two male boarders. also Chinese. The proprietor of the soap factory came to the United States in 1880, his wife and daughter in 1908. Nearby lived When Lung, a hog butcher, and his helper.

The Largest Employer of Chinese

The Chinese were working in fish canneries in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and British Colombia in the 1870s. Labor contractors in cities, including San Francisco, furnished Chinese workers by contract with the cannery owners. There were also eight salmon canneries on the Sacramento River in California where eight hundred Chinese were employed. Lew Hing, a Chinese-born entrepreneur, established a Chinese cannery in San Francisco in the 1880s. In 1904, Lew opened the Pacific Coast Canning Company at 12th and Pine Streets in Oakland, which packed many foods including fruits and tomatoes. By 1911, Lew was the largest employer of Chinese in the area. employing hundreds of Chinese, Italians, and Portuguese workers. The Western Canning Company was established in Emeryville in 1918 with Chinese investors. Most of its officers, and its president. Chin Hing, were Chinese as well. They built their cannery on Park Avenue in 1919 and were soon employing many workers, some of whom were apparently Asian. The numbers of Chinese associated with these canning operations is not known, nor is it known if such workers lived locally or commuted from elsewhere in the East Bay.

An Acceptance of Asians

The Chinese persisted. Some became wealthy and were able to employ other Chinese. They formed benevolent organizations for mutual assistance. In 1919, Chinese capital started the Virden cannery-later sold to Del Monte-at Park Avenue and Harlan Street in Emeryville. Chin Hing was president of the company, which produced the Westbest brand of canned goods. The Sanborn map of 1911 (updated to 1931) indicates many Chinese dwellings and businesses on Park Avenue: eight rooming houses, two stores, three clubs. one “gaming house”, and a restaurant.

The 1915 City Directory shows six Japanese and twenty-two Chinese laundries, one of the Japanese laundries being located at 3615 San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville. Five years later, the number of Japanese laundries in the Oakland area had increased to twelve and the Chinese laundries to nineteen, indicating both a growth in the Japanese population and an acceptance of Asians in business.

Even the Police Played

Chinese-run lotteries appeared all along Park Avenue and elsewhere in Emeryville in the 1920s. 1930s, and 1940s. The lottery representatives or agents appeared anywhere potential customers could be attracted. Agents were found in the back of restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants, in garages, and in special sheds or shanties devoted to the lotteries: they attracted both working class European and Chinese players. Even the police played. There were at least fourteen Chinese gaming establishments along Park Avenue. Despite raids on gambling establishments and speakeasies in Emeryville by Alameda County agents during prohibition, Chinese lotteries survived into the 1950s. In recent years, Chinese oriented gaming establishments specializing in Pai Gow, etc. were to found along San Pablo Avenue in south Emeryville.

Restaurants and Speakeasies

Chinese restaurants also appeared in Emeryville early in the 1920s, as documented by the Sanborn maps and telephone directories of the era. Many of these were along Park Avenue, and were usually associated with gaming or lottery facilities. At least one of these took over an existing restaurant location. In 1921, the Sunset cafe at 1555 Park Avenue was listed under “restaurants” in the telephone directory, but in 1922, the Sang Gin Restaurant was listed at the same address. In the 1920s, the Ng Hong Company (1922-1925) and the Ng Woo Dong (1922-1927) were both listed at 1556 Park Avenue.27 Louis’Restaurant at 1308 Park Avenue and the Watts Street Cafe may have been Chinese-run at some point in their histories. The dearth of Chinese restaurant listings in the later 1920s might reflect the raids and pressure by Alameda County agents on speakeasies and gambling establishments, rather than lack of popularity. More and more, Chinese establishments may have hidden their location, or relied on foot traffic for business.

An advertisement for the Canton Chinese restaurant in the program of a marathon walking contest in 1933 read:

Open from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. AFTER THE WALK-A-THON visit the CANTON CAFE Chinese and American Dishes CHOP SUEY 3866 San Pablo Avenue Between 39th and 40th Streets Emeryville, California

The Alamo Club at the west end of Park Avenue was a “Chinese only” restaurant and gaming site offering the lottery, Fan Tan and Pai Gow and only the Chinese were permitted by state charter. However, from the start, it appears that most Chinese restaurants catered to the workers and patrons of the amusements in Emeryville, and to an unknown extent, to the Chinese themselves. The Chinese-run cafeteria at the Oaks Club on the comer of Park Avenue and San Pablo Avenue is a modem survivor of this phenomenon.

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This story originally published in 1996 for the Emeryville Centennial Celebration and compiled into the ‘Early Emeryville Remembered’ historical Essays book.