California History:  More Historical Sites

What’s on this Web page:  fishing villages, New Almaden’s Spanishtown, Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, Italian Swiss Colony, Allensworth, Locke, Tanforan Assembly Center, and construction and private enterprises.

Ethnic Enclaves

Most 19th-century neighborhoods were destroyed by nature, economics, or arson—or some combination of the three.  Such was the fate of the majority of Gold Rush camps and enclaves in gateway cities like San Jose.  A few communities have flourished—Chinatown in San Francisco, for example—and some are in dire need of preservation or revitalization—like parts of Marysville and Stockton.

Fishing Villages (1850-1890s), 25+ along the shores of the Bay Area and more on the Monterey Peninsula

...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)
...khamsin.org (Web Pages of Kevin Baugh)
...memory.loc.gov (The Library of Congress:  American Memory—click on Immigration, American Expansion, then The Chinese in California)
...parks.ca.gov (California Department of Parks & Recreation:  California State Parks)

Note that the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (sanfranciscomaritime.areaparks.com, nps.gov/safr/) has a Chinese junk that resembles the same fishing vessel used over 100 years ago.

Spanishtown, New Almaden, Santa Clara Co.*

...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)

• Community of Mexican Americans, Californios, and Chilean Americans who worked in the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine (CHL 339, 339-1)
• Established around 1847 (closed to public)

Note that the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is open to the public.  This museum, located in Almaden Quicksilver County Park (parkhere.org), also contains some artifacts from China Camp (Chinese American miners worked here, too).

Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, Gold Hill, El Dorado Co.

...directcon.net/pharmer/Wakamatsu/Wakamatsu.html (Phil Veerkamp’s Wakamatsu Page)
...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)

• First Japanese American community in California (CHL 815)
• Established in 1869 (now site of elementary school)

Italian Swiss Colony, Asti, Sonoma Co.*

• Agricultural colony established by Italian Americans in 1881 (CHL 621); marker at Asti Rd. and Asti Post Office Rd.

Worth-while to Un-Locke the Past

Even though we prefer to list only pre-1900 attractions, Allensworth (Tulare County) and the Delta town of Locke are so unique in California—indeed, American—history that they deserve to be included.  In fact, we don’t understand why AAA’s California TourBook fails to mention them year after year.  Their European counterpart would be the 1911 Danish American town of Solvang (solvangusa.com) in Southern California.

Allensworth State Historic Park, Allensworth, Tulare Co.

...parks.ca.gov (California Department of Parks & Recreation:  California State Parks)
...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)
...afroamhistory.about.com (About:  African-American History)
...amtrakcalifornia.com (Amtrak California)

• Only California town built by and for African Americans
• Established in 1908 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972
• Allensworth School (1912-1968)
• Grosse’s Drug Store (19xx-19xx)
• Singleton General Store and Post Office (19xx-19xx)
• Mary Dickenson Memorial Library (19xx-19xx)
• Colonel Allensworth’s house (19xx-19xx)

Locke, Sacramento Co.

...locketown.com (City of Locke)
...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Nat’l Register of Historic Places under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Teaching With Historic Places, then Lesson Plans, then By Location, then California, then Locke and Walnut Grove:  Havens for Early Asian Immigrants in California)
...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)
...khamsin.org (Web Pages of Kevin Baugh)
...californiadelta.org (California Delta Chambers & Visitors Bureau)

• Last American town built by and for Chinese Americans
• Established in 1915 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971
• Locke Garden Restaurant (1912), Locke’s first building
• Dai Loy Museum, former gambling house (1916-1950)
• Yuen Chong Market (1916)
• Locke Chinese School (1926-1980s)
• Al’s Place Restaurant (1934)
• Locke Art Center

Note that nearby Walnut Grove (cr.nps.gov [select Nat’l Register of Historic Places under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Teaching With Historic Places, then Lesson Plans, then By Location, then California, then Locke and Walnut Grove:  Havens for Early Asian Immigrants in California], walnutgrove.com, californiadelta.org) and Isleton (isletoncoc.org, californiadelta.org, sacramentohistory.org [search for China]) have remnants of mid-19th-century Chinese American neighborhoods that are also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Years of Infamy

Japanese Americans were held at temporary detention facilities for a few months in 1942 before they were transferred to one of the 10 internment camps in the Western U.S.  There were 13 such temporary detention camps in California, one of which was in the Bay Area.  About 250 Italian Americans and thousands of German Americans were also interned.

Tanforan Assembly Center, San Bruno, San Mateo Co.*

...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)

• Converted racetrack in 1942 (CHL 934), now site of Tanforan Shopping Center

Note that the two California internment camps were Manzanar War Relocation Center (CHL 850, Inyo County, manzanar.com, manzanarcommittee.org, nps.gov/manz/) and Tule Lake Relocation Center (CHL 850-2, Modoc County, tulelake.org, alturaschamber.org).

Construction and Private Enterprises

Public Works and Commercial Building Projects (1850s-1900)

...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)
...ohp.parks.ca.gov (California Department of Parks & Recreation:  Office of Historic Preservation)

Early Entrepreneurs (1860s-1905)

...cr.nps.gov (U.S. Department of the Interior:  National Park Service—Links to the Past…select Cultural Groups under A Cultural Resource Subject, then click on Five Views:  An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California)

An asterisk indicates San Francisco Bay Area destination; CHL means California Historical Landmark.

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