Old Chinatown Reborn With Display of Relics

Six decades after Old Chinatown was razed to make way for Union Station, 200,000 artifacts that give glimpses into the everyday life of early settlers were turned over to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California on Thursday.

An archeologist who worked on the project said the collection has added value because its elements are “pure”--not mixed with other cultures.

“What a day!” Irvin Lai, the beaming president of the society, told nearly 100 people who turned out in Chinatown to witness the transfer of the collection’s title from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Catellus Corp., which owns Union Station, to the preservation group. “It’s a momentous day not just for Chinese Americans, but all Americans.”

To underscore that point, Lai called on board member Cy Wong to lead the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Castelar Street Elementary School students joined in the celebration, beating gongs and doing the traditional lion dance to keep evil spirits at bay.

The treasures, ranging from exquisite, hand-painted porcelain teacups to opium pipe bowls to hundreds of Asian coins, were unearthed at 59 digs during the construction of the Metro Rail Red Line Station at Union Station from 1989 to 1991.

The neighborhood had been home to the Los Angeles Chinese community from 1870s to 1934, when the land was condemned to make room for Union Station, named for the union of three railroad lines: Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific.

In 1934, about 3,000 Chinese were forced to leave their homes and businesses--without compensation--and to start anew in the present-day Chinatown, located just north of City Hall and the Civic Center, centering on Broadway, Hill and Spring streets.

For more than half a century, secrets of the vanished Chinatown lay buried under 14 feet of landfill that formed the track bed for several rail lines. Union Station opened in 1939.

Because the existence of Old Chinatown was documented in maps and census tracks, the MTA hired archeologist Roberta Greenwood to ensure that historic items were handled properly.

Her team found more than anticipated, including intact brick building foundations. About 40% of the artifacts came from trash pits.

“This is the slice of life that you do not get out of the history books,” Greenwood said. “We have census data. We have historical maps. But those are bare facts. They don’t tell us anything about who the people were, what they did, how they lived, what they ate, the degree to which they kept their traditional customs. These are the questions that this kind of collection can answer.”

Unlike other areas of the city, from which earlier immigrants moved on as new arrivals came, Old Chinatown was built by Chinese pioneers on vacant land that had previously been a vineyard. And they lived there until they were forced to relocate in 1934.

“There was no mixing of later cultures or later people, so that we know what is there is pure. For research, that is very important,” Greenwood said.

The Chinese Historical Society, founded 20 years as an educational group, will make the artifacts available to scholars and will display selected items at local libraries, schools, businesses and financial institutions.

The society, which recently acquired two 110-year-old Victorian bungalows at 411-415 Bernard St., is also establishing a Chinatown Heritage and Visitors Center at the site to give “rebirth” to the financially depressed area.

“This is a great honor and heavy responsibility,” said Munson Kwok, past president of the society. “We hope to use the collection to bring people together.”