Honolulu’s Chinatown
Explore this resilient multi-cultural neighborhood with over 200 years of history.
By Historic Hawai‘i Foundation
Narrative crafted by author and local historian, Gary Coover.
Gateway Foo Lion, Perry Block in backgroun (2023) by Gary CooverHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
Honolulu’s Chinatown is a bustling multi-cultural neighborhood with a complex past.
Honolulu Chinatown, food court, Maunakea Market by Cliff KimuraHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
The influx of immigrant Chinese sugar plantation workers in the 1850’s established the area as Chinatown, as it has been known ever since. Ethnic diversity has always been a key element of Honolulu's Chinatown which continues to this day.
Although Chinese businessmen had been in Hawaii since the early 1800’s, in 1852, 195 contract laborers – the first of approximately 46,000 Chinese who came to Hawai‘i between 1850 and 1900 – immigrated to work the sugarcane fields.
After completing their labor contracts, many workers of Chinese origin stayed in Hawaii, settling into the working-class neighborhood near Honolulu's harbor, living in two-story wooden buildings packed in closely together.
Many of the former plantation workers established businesses, including groceries, clubhouses, herb shops, restaurants, temples and retail stores.
By 1880, some 60 percent of the properties in Chinatown were owned by people of Chinese ancestry. They were soon joined by other immigrants from Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Korea and other countries.
Chinatown Fire (1886) by Photographer unknown, Hawaii State ArchivesHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
In 1886, a fire in a Chinese restaurant on the corner of Smith and Hotel Streets destroyed 8 blocks, home to 7,000 Chinese and hundreds of Hawaiians.
The Bubonic Plague arrived in Honolulu in December 1899, carried ashore by rats from cargo ships. In January 1900 the Board of Health set a "sanitary" fire to control the plague at the corner of Beretania and Nu‘uanu Streets. Strong winds spread the fire, which spread rapidly.
Scenes from the 1900 Honolulu Chinatown Fire
Honolulu Chinatown Fire (1900) by Frank Davey, Hawaii State ArchivesHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
The wooden roof of adjacent Kaumakapili Church caught fire and flames rapidly spread. The church and an additional 29 acres acres of densely populated wooden buildings in Chinatown, including 4,000 homes, were destroyed and thousands displaced.
World War II brought an influx of sailors into Chinatown with businesses catering to them, including tattoo parlors like Sailor Jerry's and brothels, including one that was the inspiration for the 1953 Academy Award-winning film, From Here to Eternity.
Through the tireless efforts of historic preservation advocates, Chinatown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, a designation which slowed destruction and inspired investment and historic preservation.
Honolulu Chinatown, morning shopping by Cliff KimuraHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
Honolulu Chinatown has persevered through Bubonic Plague, disastrous fires, strikes, urban renewal and encroaching development and remains an integral part of Honolulu's identity and history.
Maunakea Marketplace (2023) by Gary CooverHistoric Hawai‘i Foundation
Visit Historic Hawaii Foundation's main page to learn about a preservation advocate who saved Honolulu Chinatown from development, challenges during the pandemic and contemporary life in present day Chinatown.
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