A One-Block Chinatown

The Ah Louis store in San Luis Obispo is a California Registered Historical Landmark.  It was built in 1874 and was the first Chinese store in the country.  It was located in the very heart of the mass Chinese immigration that occurred during the 1800's.  In our part of the country, 10,000 Chinese laborers were recruited to build the Southern Pacific Railroad.  They had to build eight tunnels through the mountains to get the job done.  The pay was decent but it was backbreaking work and one thousand men died doing it.

The store served the growing Chinese population in central California.  Ah Louis sold general merchandise, but also provided banking and postal services.  Building up a good business, he himself served as a role model for his fellow countrymen.  Many of them left the railroad and began their own businesses, opening up laundries and restaurants.  Today the Chinatown in San Luis Obispo is a mere one-block.  It is the Chinatown in San Francisco that grew and survived from that wave of immigration.  Today the Ah Louis Store is a gift shop and a "must see" stop for history buffs like me.

Artist:  Peter Ladochy

This beautiful mosaic across the parking lot from the Ah Louis store tells the story of Chinese immigration to America.  It depicts a boat bringing the Chinese to our country.  The dragon symbolizes long life, as well as the duality of their experience--their love of their birthplace and the joy and hope of coming to a new land.  It tells the story of the building of the railroad and shows the Ah Louis store.  As vital as these men were to the building of our nation, they were met with hostility and prejudice.  They did not become eligible for citizenship until 1943 (China became our ally in World War II), and the earlier Chinese Exclusion Act prevented their families from joining them.  Theirs was a bachelor society and a lonely one.

Today, Chinese Americans make up the largest Asian population in America.