Locke, CA - Chinatown

Once a farm community, now a surviving relic to show us what it was like, once upon a time in Chinatown. Locke is the only original Chinatown left constructed by Chinese people. Luckily, Mr. Locke was committed to preserving its Chinese community and the Chinatown is now a Registry of National Historical Places.

The Chinatown is amazing. It is a time capsule. The community is comprised of a tiny collection of streets along a bend in a delta river levee. Main Street is one way but I wonder if it was always this way. The little town has some open shops and many two-story wooden buildings. In 1913, a fire in Walnut Grove displaced the Chinese community, so a group of merchants decided it was time to create their own Chinatown. In 1915, Mr. George Locke leased land to the Chinese so that Chinatown could be constructed. It was completed in 1920.

Dai Loy Museum gambling house museum.

The Dai Loy Museum has some interesting artifacts from when it was a gambling den. Most gambling artifacts are tea cups, bowls, and buttons as money proxies. It operated until 1950s.

Chinese Language School

There are a few language schools still intact in California, but Locke's Chinese language school is preserved to how it was in 1926. The entrance is blessed with Cantonese Confucius and Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

Tribute

A truly inspiring monument is inside the center of the town inscribed with "in memory of the industrious Chinese pioneers of California". Our ancestors of this community built railroads, levees and pioneered our farming industry. It is incredible to have the opportunity to walk their town today.