Portsmouth Square, 1866<\/b><\/h2>\n
Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp24.0025a.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Portsmouth Square, considered\u00a0the heart of Chinatown by locals, is a one-block park where the discovery of gold in California was first announced in 1848. Sam Brannan, founder of the city’s\u00a0first newspaper, showed his gold to a crowd\u00a0and\u00a0left onlookers itching to make their fortunes.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp15.588.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Between 1870 and 1880, 70 percent of the women in Chinatown were prostitutes<\/a> organized largely by the Tong gang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp13.336.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Joss houses were\u00a0Chinese temples that tourists could\u00a0visit to\u00a0learn more about Chinese spirituality. Unused to Eastern culture, Mabel Croft, an\u00a0early visitor,\u00a0described them as<\/a> \u201csuperb in a garish way but to the last degree unchurchly according to occidental standards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp13.187.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The same year this photo was taken, Chinatown was quarantined<\/a> after a resident was found dead of the bubonic plague. A federal court eventually ruled that the quarantine was unconstitutional, but by then the plague had spread. Over the next four years it killed 113 people, primarily inside Chinatown. <\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp14.4611.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n San Francisco’s\u00a01906 earthquake<\/a>\u00a0completely destroyed Chinatown. During the rebuild, city officials and real estate developers attempted to move the neighborhood to less desirable locations, including Hunters Point and\u00a0Daly City, a city south of San Francisco. Their\u00a0efforts were unsuccessful as\u00a0those alternate areas\u00a0didn\u2019t want to bring in the Chinese community.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp14.3977.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The earthquake also destroyed the power behind the Tong gang, and allowed merchants and the police to gain the\u00a0upper hand.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp15.1153.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In 1912, the famous Sam Wo restaurant opened. <\/span>SF Gate has called it<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201cfamous for its no-frills, late-night food and its you-get-what-you-get service.\u201d It closed from\u00a02012 to 2015, then\u00a0reopened in a different location.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp27.0795.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n During the Great Depression<\/a>, more night clubs combining western and eastern culture started popping up in Chinatown. One of those, <\/span>Forbidden City<\/span><\/a>, nicknamed its\u00a0performers after famous mainstream celebrities\u00a0\u2014 it was said to have\u00a0“the Chinese Frank Sinatra” and\u00a0“the Chinese Fred Astaire.”<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp14.2199.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n During World War II, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard boomed and sailors were seen strolling all around San Francisco.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp25.0504.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a US\u00a0federal law that prevented\u00a0Chinese laborers from immigrating, was repealed in 1943. Chinese immigrants were able to settle in San Francisco\u00a0once more, and there was a\u00a0major population boom in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp25.0583.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival began in the 1950s, and included art shows, street dances, martial arts, music and a fashion show.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo: OpenSFHistory\/wnp25.1170.jpg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Shown above, Waverly Place is known as \u201cThe Street of Painted Balconies\u201d and is\u00a0an important location in the Amy Tan novel “<\/span>The Joy Luck Club<\/span>.”<\/span><\/p>\n![\"portsmouth](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/portsmouth-square-SF.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKearny Street and Commercial Street, ca.\u00a01880<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nJoss house, ca.\u00a01900<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nChildren crossing Stockton Street, 1900<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPost-earthquake destruction, 1906<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nClay Street in ruins after the earthquake, 1906<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nGrant Avenue, ca.\u00a01910<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBystander posing in Chinatown, 1937<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSailors walking along Grant Avenue, ca.\u00a01940<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLooking down Grant Avenue, 1950<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPagodas and hanging lamps, ca.\u00a01958<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWaverly Place, 1960<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nOld St. Mary\u2019s, 1964<\/b><\/h2>\n