5 Chinatowns and the Communities Working to Preserve Them
From Philadelphia to Seattle, learn about the communities working to sustain their Chinatowns.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Adapted from an article by Nathalie Alonso
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is working to support the preservation of America's Chinatowns. Sign our petition today to commit to the cultural preservation of America’s Chinatowns for future generations
Lion Dance in Boston by Chinatown Main StreetNational Trust for Historic Preservation
Across the country, generations of Chinese families have
found, and continue to find, housing, safety, community, and livelihoods in Chinatowns.
Yet, as a result of gentrification, large-scale development, displacement, xenophobia, and other factors, some of these vibrant neighborhoods have vanished, and those that remain continue to face existential threats.
For these reasons the National Trust for Historic Preservation has launched the campaign for America’s Chinatowns. A collaboration with partners and communities, the program is working to preserve these important ethnic enclaves for future generations.
Here’s a look at five historic Chinatowns around the country, the threats they face, and what is being done to preserve them.
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1. Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s Chinatown welcomes residents and visitors to a neighborhood that brims with culture and traces its history to the 1870s, making it one of the oldest such enclaves in the country.
Philadelphia’s Chinatown has shrunk in size over the years
Losing about a quarter of its original land to large-scale development. In 2024, the community is mobilizing against the construction of an 18,500-seat basketball arena for the 76ers that was announced by the NBA in 2022.
Current plans for the arena locate it just steps from the Friendship Gate. In 2023 the National Trust listed Philadelphia's Chinatown as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Learn more about advocacy efforts to protect Philadelphia's Chinatown.
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2. Seattle Chinatown-International District
According to the Wing Luke Museum the Seattle Chinatown International District (CID) has the distinction of being the only place in the continental U.S. where Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Vietnamese immigrants along with Black Americans have built a neighborhood together.
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In the 1960s and 1970s
Construction of highways, parking lots, and sports stadiums split the neighborhood. By 1986, thanks to community activism, Seattle's CID was placed on the Washington Heritage Register and National Register of Historic Places, revitalizing the community.
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Now, this historic area is threatened again by the proposed expansion of Sound Transit (Seattle metro area’s regional transit agency), which is looking to build new stations in or around the CID that could lead to displacement and business closures.
The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, a local National Trust partner, has called on planners to keep the CID’s cultural significance top of mind to avoid further disruptions. In 2023 the National Trust listed Seattle Chinatown-International District on its list of America's 11 Most of Endangered Historic Places.
Learn more about the Seattle Chinatown-International District.
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3. San Francisco
The oldest Chinatown in the continental United States is located in San Francisco. It was established by some of the country’s first Chinese immigrants, who worked in mines during the Gold Rush from 1848-55 and helped build the Transcontinental Railroad.
San Francisco Fire, April 18, 1906, 9 a.m. (1906) by Arnold GentheThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
San Francisco’s Chinatown is no stranger to adversity
The massive earthquake that struck the city in 1906, and the fires it triggered, leveled much of the neighborhood and claimed many lives.
But the community rebuilt, making this historic Chinatown that now spans 30 blocks, into an attractive destination for new immigrants while also turning it into a major tourist destination.
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Today, the plethora of small, family-owned shops and eateries that are the backbone and lifeblood of this Chinatown are still reeling from the loss of tourism-driven business during the pandemic, as well as an increasingly expensive real estate market.
Part of the revitalization includes the Chinatown Community Development Center’s efforts to preserve affordable housing for Chinese residents; new amenities, headlined by the long-awaited opening of the Chinatown-Rose Pak subway station; and the renovation of Portsmouth Square, often referred to as the “living room” of San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Learn more about San Francisco's Chinatown.
1874 Atlas of Boston (1874) by G.M. Hopkins & Co. and State Library of Massachussetts, Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0 DEEDNational Trust for Historic Preservation
4. Boston
Boston’s Chinatown is the only remaining historic Chinese American enclave in New England. The area’s first Chinese residents were laborers who arrived in the United States via locations along the West Coast and moved eastward in search of jobs.
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Like other Chinatowns, Boston’s has been fractured over time
In the 1950s and 1960s, the city used eminent domain laws to seize portions of Chinatown to accommodate highways I-93 and I-90, destroying homes and businesses in the process.
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Then, in the 1970s, the city zoned an area adjacent to Chinatown for adult entertainment, leading to the rise of a notorious red light district that became known as “The Combat Zone.”
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The encroachment didn’t stop there. Over the years, Boston’s Chinatown has lost land to the Tufts University Medical School and the Tufts-New England Medical Center. Private development and gentrification have also taken their toll.
In May 1995, the city established the Chinatown Main Street which uses the principles of Main Street America to preserve this important piece of New England History. And starting in 2016 organizations like the Boston Chinatown Community Land Trust have organized to prevent their neighborhood from shrinking further.
Learn more about Boston's Chinatown.
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5. Chicago
While other Chinatowns across the country have watched their populations decline and their physical space decrease, Chicago’s 110-year-old Chinatown is defying that trend by growing, and is therefore serving as a beacon of hope.
There are plenty of incentives for Chinese Americans in the Windy City to move to or stay in Chinatown: In addition to the community services that have long been in place, over the last decade, this Chinatown has benefited from new, accessible recreational activities, and a branch of the Chicago Public Library, both of which have encouraged residents to remain in their community.
Learn more about the Wah Mei Drum and Bugle Corp, a precursor to present day youth organizations in Chicago's Chinatown.
Adapted from a story by Nathalie Alonso for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Learn more about the threats facing Chinatowns in North America with the film Big Fight in Little Chinatown. This documentary is a story of community resistance and resilience. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, the documentary takes us into the lives of residents, businesses and community organizers whose neighborhoods are facing active erasure.
Further Reading:
Learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation's America's Chinatowns initiative.
Gold Mountain & Beyond: A History of Chinatowns in the United States (Google Arts & Culture)
Timeline of the History of Chinatowns in the United States (Google Arts & Culture)
How Chinatowns Nationwide Are Finding Ways to Thrive Into the Future (Preservation magazine)
To schedule a screening or programming related to Big Fight in Little Chinatown contact Monica Victoria (monica@eyesteelfilm.com), head of distribution at EyesteelFilm.
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