The U.S. city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, was home to a "small, but busy" Chinatown, located at the intersection of

Grant Street Grant Street is the main government and business corridor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is home to the global headquarters of U.S. Steel, Koppers Chemicals, and Oxford Development. It also is home to the seat of Allegheny County, City of Pitts ...

and

Boulevard of the Allies The Boulevard of the Allies is a mostly four-lane road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, connecting Downtown Pittsburgh with the Oakland neighborhood of the city. Because of its lengthy name, locals sometimes refer to it as simply "The Boulevard ...

in Downtown Pittsburgh where only one Chinese restaurant remains. The ''On Leong Society'' was located there. According to the article, "... the first Chinese community in Pittsburgh developed around Wylie Avenue above Court Place," according to a 1942 newsletter of the American Service Institute of Allegheny County. The Chinatown spread to Grant Street, and then "... to Water Street and then spread out to Second and Third avenues."

History

The Chinatown grew from waves of Chinese immigrants who came east from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

after the 1849 Gold Rush and the transcontinental railroads. The immigrants came from the area around

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

in China. According to the article, the Chinatown was primarily centered on Second Avenue with merchant names such as "Wing Hong Chinese Co., 519 Second Ave" and "Quong Chong Shing, 511 Second Ave", all of whom have been driven out when the Boulevard of the Allies was built forcing demolition of all buildings on Second Avenue, sometime by the 1950s. Even by the 1930s, "... the Chinatown was rapidly vanishing."

Environment

Pittsburgh's Chinatown in the 1920s to 1930s has been described as a dangerous place as there were frequent skirmishes between the two warring Chinese gangs, otherwise known as the "Tong Wars", covered by the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

and the Pittsburgh Press. The Tong Wars were sensationalized by the press and played into racist stereotypes and anti-Chinese sentiment. "On Second Avenue there stands the temple, pagoda style, lifting itself three stories, its tiled roof and leaded windows giving it an air of Oriental distinction. Inside is the splendor of embroidery and hangings, teakwood and mother of pearl, red lacquer and gilt carvings, a carved stone altar for worship, and a long table for meetings of the On Leong Merchants Association." File:PittsburghPaChinatown2.jpg, Built in 1922 in Pittsburgh's old Chinatown Image:pittsburghchinatown.jpg, Old Pittsburgh Chinatown on Blvd. of the Allies File:Chinatown Inn 522 Third Av Pittsb jeh.jpg, Chinatown's only remaining Chinese restaurant

External links

Pittsburgh's Chinatown and how it disappeared

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

References

{{Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Asian-American culture in Pittsburgh Chinese-American culture in Pennsylvania

Ethnic enclaves in Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh