First Chinatown, Toronto
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First Chinatown is a
retronym A retronym is a newer name for something that differentiates it from something else that is newer, similar, or seen in everyday life; thus, avoiding confusion between the two. Etymology The term ''retronym'', a neologism composed of the combi ...
for a former neighbourhood in Toronto, an area that once served as the city's
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
. The city's original Chinatown existed from the 1890s to the 1970s, along York Street and Elizabeth Street between
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
and
Dundas Street Dundas Street () is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western Greater Toronto Area, suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—Ontario Highway 2 ...
s within St. John's Ward (commonly known as The Ward). However, more than two thirds of it was expropriated and razed starting in the late 1950s to build the new
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
and its civic square,
Nathan Phillips Square Nathan Phillips Square is an city square, urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips ( ...
. The remainder of Toronto's First Chinatown still exists as one of Toronto's Chinatowns, with numerous Chinese restaurants, north of Hagerman and Armoury streets and around Dundas Street between Bay Street and University Avenue, albeit much reduced and the neighbourhood is now being better known as Japantown, Little Japan, and Little Tokyo. The economic and cultural centre of the downtown Chinese community has largely shifted to the newer West Chinatown located at Spadina and Dundas Street West.


History


Beginnings

The Chinese population in Toronto was sparse and located in much of the Toronto
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
in the 1800s. The earliest record of Toronto's Chinese community is traced to Sam Ching, who owned a hand laundry business on Adelaide Street in 1878. Ching was the first Chinese person listed in the city's directory and is now honoured with a lane named after him. The first Chinese café (the term referred to Chinese-owned establishments that served a combination of western and Chinese food) in Toronto was opened in 1901 at 37 1/2
Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...
opposite
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
. Despite the strict limitations placed on Chinese immigration with the
Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 The ''Chinese Immigration Act, 1885'' was an act of the Parliament of Canada that placed a head tax of $50 () on all Chinese immigrants entering Canada. It was based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, whic ...
, the first Toronto Chinatown took shape in the early 1900s as hundreds of Chinese men settled close to
Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
after helping to build the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
across Canada. The men originally found lodgings close to the railway station due to its convenience. At that time, the Chinese in Toronto separated themselves into those that supported political reform of the Qing Empire under
Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...
and those that supported a revolution overthrowing the Manchu
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. The 1909 Toronto city directory showed them as two distinct clusters of Chinese shops located at: # Queen Street East and George Street, adjacent to the reformist ''Chinese Empire Reform Association'' (保皇會) # Queen Street West and York Street, adjacent to the ''
Chee Kung Tong The Chee Kung Tong (), or Gee Kung Tong, was a Chinese secret society established in 1880 and holds an active presence still. In earlier years, the society has also been recognized as the "Chinese Masons" and has been identified under various n ...
'' (致公堂) a Chinese secret fraternal organization supporting the Chinese revolutionary
Sun Yat-Sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
. When the Qing dynasty fell in 1912 the reform association became defunct and the business next to it move away from the Queen Street East neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the Chinese community in Queen Street West and York Street continued to grow and moved into the adjacent properties within Toronto's Ward district () vacated by the Jewish population. By 1910, the Chinese population in Toronto numbered over a thousand. As in the rest of Canada and the US, due to entry resistance into other areas of employment, the Chinese of Toronto had to resort to the labor of food service and washing laundry. In this time, hundreds of Chinese-owned businesses had developed, consisting mainly of restaurants, grocery stores, and hand laundries. The Chinese laundries competed with the other Torontonian laundries leading to publicly called boycotts and demands for the city government to cancel or withhold business licenses from Chinese operators.


Growth

By 1912, there were 19 Chinese restaurants, half of which were in The Ward. By the early 1920s, this figure had risen to around 100 cafés and restaurants. The growth of Chinatown prompted a
moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...
among moral reformers and xenophobes who warned of the "lure of the Chinaman" and accused Chinese businesses of being dens of iniquity linked with
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
and "
white slavery White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the enslavement of any of the world's European ethnic groups throughout human history, whether perpetrated by non-Europeans or by other Europeans. Slavery in ancient ...
" and of being a danger to the community and, in particular, to white women. As a result, in 1908 the city threatened to deny licenses to Chinese restaurants that employed white women and in 1914 the provincial government introduced legislation barring white women from working in Chinese restaurants. The legislation was not well enforced and by 1923 there were 121 white women recorded as being in the employ of 121 Chinese restaurants in Toronto. The
Toronto Police The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police se ...
regularly raided Chinese restaurants for alleged alcohol and gambling offenses, particularly after the passage of the
Canada Temperance Act The ''Canada Temperance Act'' (), also known as the ''Scott Act'', was an Act of the Parliament of Canada passed in 1878, which provided for a national framework for municipalities to opt in by plebiscite to a scheme of prohibition. It was repeal ...
in 1916. By the 1930s, Chinatown was a firmly established and well-defined community that extended along
Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District, Toronto, Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Economy of Canada, Canada's financial services indust ...
between
Dundas Street Dundas Street () is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western Greater Toronto Area, suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—Ontario Highway 2 ...
and
Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...
. Like the rest of the country, Chinatown suffered a severe downturn in the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, with the closing of more than 116 hand laundries and hundreds of other businesses. Many Chinese restaurants in the area fell into disrepair in the 1940s, however the community began to recover after World War II as Canada's general economic fortunes improved and Elizabeth Street experienced a restaurant boom in the late 1940s and 1950 with new, large facilities such as the Nanking opening in 1947, and Lichee Garden Restaurant and Club opening in 1948. Both establishments catered to a largely western clientele with the Lichee Garden being able to accommodate 1,500 customers a day and offering dining and dancing with a live band and a closing time of 5 a.m. Other large restaurants such as the Kwong Chow, the Golden Dragon, and Sai Woo opened in the 1950s with millions of dollars being spent by Chinese investors on improvements to Elizabeth Street.


Expropriation

Regardless of the investment by its owners and the success of the area with customers, plans emerged in the late 1950s to construct the new
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
at the northwestern corner of the intersection of Queen and Bay Streets, it became clear that most of Chinatown would be displaced by the project. As Chinese businesses began to relocate west down Dundas and up
Spadina Avenue Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods. Spadina Avenue runs south ...
around
Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's best-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Sites of Canada, ...
, some stores were taken over by other developers, and most stores that occupied the project site were cleared through expropriation. More than two-thirds of Elizabeth Street from Queen to Dundas Streets were destroyed. Construction on
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
and
Nathan Phillips Square Nathan Phillips Square is an city square, urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips ( ...
began in 1961. Due in part to the high land value in the area of Chinatown, city planners in 1967 proposed that the rest of the first Chinatown be demolished and the population moved for the development of office buildings north of City Hall. This endangered many more local businesses, and even with the support of most Torontonians to save this part of Chinatown, the city was adamant to clear the buildings arguing that preserving Chinatown would turn it into a ghetto. At this time, community leaders including
Jean Lumb Jean Bessie Lumb, , (1919–2002) was the first Chinese Canadian woman and the first restaurateur to receive the Order Of Canada, Order of Canada for her community work. Most notably, she was recognized for her pivotal role in changing Head tax ( ...
established the "Save Chinatown Committee", with Lumb acting as coordinator and face of the campaign. She later received the Order of Canada in 1976 for her role in helping to save Chinatown. In 1970 and again in 1975, city officials proposed to demolish the Dundas Street portions of Chinatown for the expansion of the street to six lanes, however, due to community protests, the proposals were quashed.


Transformation into Little Tokyo

Since the mid-2010s, the section of Dundas between Yonge and Chestnut Streets has gradually developed into a
Japantown is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little ...
district, although a few Chinese and Korean establishments remain.
Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
-based bakery chain
Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake (, ), commonly known as Uncle Tetsu or Uncle Tetsu's, is a Japanese bakery chain that sells cheesecake as its signature dish. It originally opened in Japan in 1990 as a bakery shop on Oyafukou Street in the ward of Hakata ...
is cited to be the catalyst to attracting other Japanese businesses to the area, most of which consist of restaurants and cafes featuring various types of
Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...
. A Japanese Language School, Aitas, and the minimalist lifestyle store
Muji , or is a Japanese retailer which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods. Muji's design philosophy is minimalist, and it places an emphasis on recycling, reducing production and packaging waste, and a no-logo or "no-brand" policy. ...
have also established themselves in the area. Of note is the「警察局」(lit. “police station” in Japanese Kanji or
Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
) label traditionally displayed on the nearby 52nd Division Toronto Police Station, located at the Dundas and Simcoe junction, the midpoint between Little Tokyo and Chinatown West.


See also

*
Chinese Canadians Chinese Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Chinese people, Chinese ancestry, which includes both naturalized Chinese immigrants and Canadian-born Chinese. They comprise a subgroup of East Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of ...
*
Chinese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area The Chinese Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area was first established around 1877, with an initial population of two laundry owners. While the Chinese Canadian population was initially small in size, it dramatically grew beginning in ...
*
Chinese head tax in Canada The Chinese head tax was a fixed fee charged to every Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the ''Chinese Immigration Act'' of 1885 and it was meant to discourage Chinese people from e ...
*
Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 The ''Chinese Immigration Act, 1923'' (), also known as the "Chinese Exclusion Act" (the duration of which has been dubbed the Exclusion Era), was a Canadian Act of Parliament passed by the government of Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Ma ...
*
East Chinatown, Toronto East Chinatown is a Chinese neighbourhood located in the city of Toronto's east end in Riverdale and one of the several Chinatowns in Toronto. It was formed during the early 1970s and is centred on Gerrard Street East between Broadview Avenue a ...
*
History of Chinese immigration to Canada Chinese immigrants began settling in Canada in the 1780s. The major periods of Chinese immigration would take place from 1858 to 1923 and 1947 to the present day, reflecting changes in the Canadian government's immigration policy. Chinese immi ...
*
Japanese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area Toronto has a population of Japanese Canadians and also one of Japanese nationals. As of 2010 there are about 20,000 Japanese Canadians in Toronto.Ruprecht, Tony. ''Toronto's Many Faces''. Dundurn Group, Dundurn, November 8, 2010. , 9781554888856. ...
*
Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (1885) The Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was a List of Canadian royal commissions, commission of inquiry appointed to establish whether or not imposing Immigration restrictions, restrictions to History of Chinese immigration to Canada, Chinese i ...


References


External links

* {{authority control Chinese-Canadian culture in Toronto
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
Ethnic enclaves in Ontario Japantowns Neighbourhoods in Toronto Former neighbourhoods in Canada