Ah Louis
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On Wong (1840 – December 16, 1936), more commonly known as Ah Louis, was a Chinese American banker, labor contractor, farmer, and shopkeeper in San Luis Obispo, California during the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a central figure in the development of California's Central Coast, serving as an organizer of Chinese laborers during the construction of the Pacific Coast Railway's Avila/Port Harford spur and the tunnels over Cuesta Grade.
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[edit] History
Ah Louis traveled from his home in Guangzhou (Canton), China, and arrived in California in 1856 in order to strike it rich during the Gold Rush. Unsuccessful at mining, he became a laborer working in Corvallis, Oregon and points further south.
Ah eventually settled in San Luis Obispo, California in 1870. He organized a working crew to help construct the Pacific Coast Railroad, delivering 160 Chinese Americans from San Francisco by schooner.[1] In 1877, Ah was awarded two large road construction contracts, including a road from Paso Robles, California to Cambria, California (now the western-most portion of State Route 46) and the first stages of a road connecting San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles, California (now referred to as Cuesta Grade, a portion of which is still drivable and is labeled off the freeway as "Old Stagecoach Road" and a portion of U.S. Route 101). In 1884, Ah received the contract to construct the four Cuesta Grade tunnels for the Southern Pacific Railroad, requiring the provision of 2,000 laborers and taking ten years to complete.
Seeing a need for the California central coast's Chinese community, Ah opened a small oriental mercantile in 1874, the first in San Luis Obispo County, from which he sold goods including rice, rum, and opium (opium use was legal until 1915).[2] The wooden structure was replaced by a sturdy brick building in 1885, made from bricks from his own brickyard which still stands at 800 Palm Street on the corner of Chorro Street in downtown San Luis Obispo, marking where San Luis Obispo's Chinatown once stood.[3] The shop is currently owned by Dr. William Watson, Ah Louis's great-grandson[2], and the ground floor is now open as a gift shop, though was converted into a westernized shop, selling mostly houseware. The Ah Louis store has been designated as a California State Historical Landmark number 802[4] by the United States National Parks Service.[1] It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[edit] Family
Ah Louis may have left his wife in Canton when he traveled to North America. In the 1880 census, a wife is living with him, but there are no children. In May 1889, Ah married Ying Gon (a second wife) in San Francisco and raised eight children including five sons and three daughters.[5] The youngest and last of his children, Howard Louis, who continued to run the store until late in the 1990s, died on August 15, 2008, at the age of 100.[2][6]
[edit] Notes
Google Maps location of Ah Louis' store
[edit] References
- ^ a b National Park Service, "An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Chinese Americans): Ah Louis Store"
- ^ a b c The Tribune - Howard "Toby" Louis — last of Chinatown founder Ah Louis' children — dies at 100
- ^ Telegram Tribune review of Ah Louis store
- ^ California State Parks Office of Historical Preservation
- ^ San Luis Obispo Historical Society's Tolosa Times, July, 2006.
- ^ Chinese Historical Society of Southern California News 'n Notes, September 2008, pg. 6
