Threatened: China House, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

China House, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.  Photo found at The Press-Enterprise.

"Rural Chinatowns served as geographic sanctuaries where ethnicity, language, and cultural practices were held in common and where the amenities of traditional Chinese life where readily available," writes Richard Steven Street.  Marginalized ethnic groups at the turn of the 20th century needed a sense of community as Street recognized, "Chinese field hands encased themselves in a variety of protective institutions aimed at preserving their dignity and self-respect amid a hostile society."

Photo found at Flickr.

The unreinforced brick building is the only remaining structure of Rancho Cucamonga's Chinatown.  Buildings built of wood and scraps burned to the ground in 1919, after a man caused a cooking accident.  As a testament of perseverance, the China House remained long after the destruction of the community.

Rubbing the salt in the proverbial wound of erasing the physical places of immigrant history is the City of Rancho Cucamonga's decision to proceed with red tagging this early 1900s China House.  Set for demolition in as early as 60 days, the current owner, Cucamonga Valley Water District, does not have the interest or funds to restore or retrofit the building.  Its demolition would occur regardless of the city council's 1979 designation of China House as a landmark.

The demolition of this building would also come in the wake of greater interest in Asian history and preservation in California and throughout the United States.  This interest brings to question, what indeed are the motivations of the water district behind allowing this historic building to decay?

Update:  Kudos to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance for exploring options for saving China House, as reported by Neil Nesperos of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Update:  The plight of China House has just received national attention!

Update: Demolition delayed!

Update: The National Trust for Historic Preservation has just announced 2013's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, and China House is one of them.  This year, the Trust's President, Stephanie Meeks, has taken to YouTube to further their cause.  For further information, see Save Chinatown House in Rancho Cucamonga.  Supporters are also on Facebook.

Remembered: Anti-Chinese Violence throughout California

San Francisco's Chinatown.  Photo by Tim Greyhaven and found at his website, No Place for Your Kind.

Cal-Tales highlights preservation stories throughout California, for the purpose of never forgetting our collective history.  As a preservation blog, Cal-Tales strives to tell the stories of California places saved, threatened, or lost...patterned after the National Trust for Historic Preservation's national listings...but also places forgotten and remembered. At the crossroads of preservation and history, we are sometimes reminded of places that represent a painful past that is not limited to European wars or Southern racial tensions. California too, has a racially charged past that is still relevant today.

The New York Times' Lens recently highlighted photographer Tim Greyhaven's online photographic essay, No Place for Your Kind, which highlights todays places where 19th century anti-Chinese violence occurred.  Chinatowns were well established throughout California where farm and industrial labor was greatly needed.  As Chinese populations grew, some Anglo groups became increasingly agitated and set fires to Chinatowns that all too often included outright murder.  The nation's legislation past laws making immigration difficult at a time economic stress or when labor forces were greatly in need.  Both the New York Times article and Greyhaven's project well capture this part of California's past that should always be remembered.  Greater detail can be found in Richard Steven Street's seminal history of California, Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769-1913.

To learn more about Asian preservation projects specific to California, check out the National Asian Pacific Islander American Historic Preservation Forum.