Chinatown was in ruins after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Credit: Bob Bowen Collection

The 1906 earthquake displaced hundreds of thousands of people throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. However, the Chinese occupants of San Francisco faced the particular threat of permanent displacement. San Francisco had historically attracted an intricate Chinese labor community as a result of the 1848 Gold Rush and western expansion of the railroads. By 1870, over thirty thousand Chinese laborers had established their own San Francisco Chinese-American community - Chinatown. Their presence, however, was not particularly welcomed, as Chingwah Lee, a Chinatown historian, explains, "At the time there was no work for white men, never mind the Chinese. But the Chinese would take any work at any pay. This just increased their unpopularity." Unfortunately, the 1906 earthquake and fire afforded a convenient excuse by city officials to claim Chinatown for profitable commercial development and they attempted to drive the Chinese out of the city.

On Wednesday, April 18, 1906, Chinatown suffered damage from the initial shock of the earthquake. However, the actual destruction of Chinatown resulted later from the raging fires that spread rampant throughout the city. Many Chinese, like others all over the city, scrambled to gather belongings and flee the danger of the encroaching flames. The National Guard moved in to evacuate and safeguard the area. Hugh Kwong Liang, only fifteen at the time, recalled, "I turned away from my dear old Chinatown for the last time… city officials directing the refugees march approached us and told us to proceed toward the open grounds at the Presidio Army Post." Sadly, despite the presence of the military, intended to protect the area, reports indicated extensive looting, including "the National Guard… stripping everything of value in Chinatown."

A Chinese family at an unknown refugee camp.
Credit: Bob Bowen Collection

Chinese refugees quickly flooded relief camps in San Francisco and Oakland. As the Chinese exited Chinatown, city officials sought to prevent them from returning. A committee was quickly established that focused exclusively on the permanent relocation of the Chinese. The group consisted of prominent San Franciscan men: Abraham Ruef, James D. Phelan, Jeremiah Deneen, Dr. James W. Ward, and Dr. Thomas Filben. In a poorly planned evacuation, Chinese refugees were shuttled to various relief camps all over the city. A temporary camp on Van Ness prompted relocation to the Presidio because Phelan argued that the site would prove difficult to dismantle once the Chinese settled again in a location so close to the original Chinatown. The Chinese presence at the Presidio Golf Links greatly displeased neighbors "where the summer zephyrs would blow the odors of Chinatown into their front doors." The Chinese refugees were transferred, again, the next day to a more remote location on the Presidio near Fort Point.

The Committee on the Location of Chinatown debated numerous permanent sites including Hunter's Point, south of San Francisco on the bay. Located in San Mateo County, Hunter's Point was dismissed after officials realized that property and poll taxes collected from the Chinese would no longer benefit San Francisco County.

The continued displacement of the Chinese was not unnoticed. A visit by the Chinese Secretary of Legation, Chow-Tszchi, and the Chinese Consul-General of San Francisco, Chung Pao Hsi, evaluated the conditions of the Chinese refugees. These were relayed in an official letter to the Military Secretary Department of California requesting the compliance with an appeal from Chow-Tszchi: "The Chinese (should) be not again moved and the location now selected (should) be made permanent." The letter further explained that should circumstances necessitate a further move, adequate warning and sensitivity to the language barrier warranted serious consideration.

Depiction of the proposed relocation of Chinatown at Hunter's Point
Credit: Museum of the City of San Francisco

As the delegation from the Chinese Legation met with various city officials, Chow-Tszchi exclaimed his disapproval with the proposed replacement of Chinatown: "America is a free country, and every man has a right to occupy land which he owns provided that he makes no nuisance. The Chinese Government owns the lot on which the Chinese Consulate of San Francisco formerly stood… It is the intention of our Government to build a new building on the property." These remarks prompted political concerns among members of the committee.

The rerouting of Chinatown also posed a potential threat to the Oriental trade dominated by San Francisco ports. Seattle and Los Angeles had already offered to accept the Chinese refugees and the committee began to struggle with the pressures mounting from local and even national concern over the treatment of the Chinese during the emergency. The San Francisco Examiner reported, "The committee's protestations that what it intends is for the benefit of the Chinese is received with suspicion on the part of the Chinese." In fact, few Chinese voluntarily took advantage of relief help. Despite their estimated population of 60,000, only 186 Chinese refugees remained at the Fort Point camp by May 8. The Committee on the Location of Chinatown slowly lost momentum and the threat to political relations with China and economic losses in the Oriental trade posed too much for the plan to relocate Chinatown. After the long drawn out and failed manipulative efforts by the Committee on the Location of Chinatown, the Chinese were finally allowed back into San Francisco's Chinatown and soon began rebuilding.

Barker, Malcolm E. Three Fearful Days, (San Francisco: Londonborn Publications, 1998).

"Chinese Colony at Foot of Van Ness." San Francisco Chronicle, 27 April 1906. Museum of the City of San Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org.

"Chinese Make Strong Protest." San Francisco Chronicle, 30 April 1906. Museum of the City of San Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org.

Hansen, Gladys and Emmet Condon. Denial of Disaster, (San Francisco: Cameron and Company, 1989).

Hansen,Gladys. "Relocation of the Chinese." Museum of the City of San Francisco, 1 June 1996. http://www.sfmuseum.org.

Letter from E.S. Benton, Capt. Arty. Corps. To Military Secretary of California. "Chinese Camp." National Archives, 28 April 1906.

"New Chinatown Near Fort Point." San Francisco Chronicle, 28 April 1906. Museum of the City of San Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org.

Thomas, Gordon and Max Morgan Witts, The San Francisco Earthquake, (New York: Stein and Day, 1971).

"Want Chinese on the Front." San Francisco Examiner, 4 May 1906. Museum of the City of San Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org.