Market Street Chinatown

The first Chinatown in San Jose was at Market and San Fernando Streets (1866-1870) and was destroyed by fire. The residents moved to Vine Street (1870-1872), but after two years they returned to Market Street and expanded their community beyond its original borders. This "Second" Market Street Chinatown (1872-1887) was the largest one of San Jose's five Chinatowns, where the Signia by Hilton (formerly the Fairmont Hotel) is now located in downtown San Jose. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the nation's most restrictive immigration bill prohibiting all Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States and preventing Chinese from becoming citizens. Five years later in 1887, the San Jose City Council declared the Market Street Chinatown a public nuisance and unanimously approved an order to remove it to make way for a new City Hall. Before officials acted, the thriving Chinatown was burned down by anti-Chinese arsonists, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses, and displacing about 1,400 people.

In September 2021, the city of San Jose formally apologized for its past discrimination against the Chinese community, including its role in the 1887 Market Street Chinatown fire. A plaque outside the former Fairmont Hotel (now the Signia by Hilton) commemorating the centennial of the fire was dedicated on May 4, 1987, but no formal resolution of apology was issued at that time. 

Numerous artifacts were excavated in 1985-1988 from the site of the Market Street Chinatown during the construction of the San Jose Fairmont Hotel. As a result, the Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project was developed as a research and education program to catalog, analyze, report, and curate the collection of artifacts found. This project was developed as a collaborative effort between Stanford University, History San Jose, and CHCP.

Since 2002, CHCP has enjoyed a partnership with Stanford University's Dr. Barbara L. Voss, Associate Professor of Anthropology and lead investigator on the Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project. CHCP has collaborated with Stanford’s Digital Heritage Class, where students study and investigate artifacts from the Market Street Chinatown, and has worked on the Stanford Digital Exhibit, “There was a Chinatown Here.”

The Chinese American Historical Museum (CAHM) has on display the following catalogued and researched items from the Market Street Chinatown that are cross-referenced and coded to the Stanford Digital Exhibit (click on each item below to access its corresponding Digital Exhibit webpage):

The Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project is featured in the beginning of a video titled “I am History San Jose”.

Woolen Mills Chinatown

After the 1887 Market Street Chinatown fire, the Chinese settled into two different locations in San Jose: Heinlenville and the Woolen Mills. The Woolen Mills Chinatown (1887-1902) earned its name from the nearby San Jose Woolen Manufacturing Company at Taylor and First Streets, where Chinese workers were employed. The factory was a three-story landmark that opened in 1870 and was popularly known as the San Jose Woolen Mills. The company grew from 43 employees in 1871 to almost 200 by 1884, according to one source. In 1896, the mill was one of the largest in California, producing “cassimere,” flannel, blankets, knitted underwear and cloth for men’s clothing.

The Woolen Mills Chinatown was a vital community for several years, but lack of leadership and an economic downturn finally led to its demise. By 1901, most of the Woolen Mills Chinatown residents had moved to Heinlenville, leaving empty buildings which were destroyed by fire in 1902.

In May 1997, the expansion of the Guadalupe Freeway (State Route 87) in San Jose by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) resulted in the uncovering of extensive archaeological deposits associated with the Woolen Mills Chinatown. Caltrans contacted CHCP, expressing an interest in exploring cooperative programs in connection with excavation of the historic Woolen Mills Chinatown site in San Jose. Work on the Woolen Mills site began in the Spring of 1999 as part of construction of the final segment of the Guadalupe Freeway. 

Read more about the archaeological research and history of Woolen Mills Chinatown.