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Heinlenville

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Coordinates: 37°21′5″N 121°53′38″W / 37.35139°N 121.89389°W / 37.35139; -121.89389
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Heinlenville
海因倫鎮里的
Neighborhood of San Jose
Etymology: John Heinlen
Map
Coordinates: 37°21′5″N 121°53′38″W / 37.35139°N 121.89389°W / 37.35139; -121.89389
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountySanta Clara
CitySan Jose
Built1887–1888
Razed1931
Founded byJohn Heinlen
Area
 • Total
5 acres (2 ha)
Population
 • Total
4,000
 • Density510,000/sq mi (200,000/km2)

Heinlenville (Chinese: 海因倫鎮里的; also called the Sixth Street Chinatown 六街唐人埠 and San Jose Chinatown 散那些唐人埠) was a Chinese American ethnic enclave in San Jose, California, from 1887 to 1931. It was the last and longest-lasting of San Jose's five Chinatowns.

Namesake

Heinlenville was nicknamed after John Heinlen, a German-American rancher who leased land to the Chinese community for a settlement in an era when they were prohibited from owning land outright. Heinlen was born in 1815 in Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1817, and lived in Pennsylvania and Bucyrus, Ohio, before moving to California in 1852.[1] He employed many Chinese Americans on his Coyote ranch and leased land to Chinese farmers in Kings and Fresno counties. He also had good business relations with Chinese merchants in San Jose.[2][3] There is speculation that his goodwill towards Chinese Americans was motivated by the anti-German sentiment he had witnessed while living in Ohio.[2][4][5]

Establishment

1891 Sanborn map of Heinlenville and what would later become Japantown

In 1887, ten days after the Market Street Chinatown was destroyed by arson, John Heinlen began planning a new home for the city's Chinese residents on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) pasture he owned near the affluent Hensley neighborhood.[2] Heinlen commissioned architect Theodore Lenzen to design a new neighborhood for the Chinese residents. Lenzen was a fellow German immigrant who had designed a City Hall then under construction, as well as other local landmarks.[6]

Heinlen signed contracts with Chinese merchants on June 20 and July 14, 1887. The city rejected his application for a building permit, but his son Goethe successfully fought the injunction on his father's behalf. White neighbors, concerned about their property values, threatened to ostracize Heinlen and made threats on his life. Heinlen completed construction in 1888. The neighborhood was mocked as "Heinlenville" and its benefactor as "Ah Heinlen", but eventually the name Heinlenville stuck and was used by its residents.[3][2]

The property was divided into six blocks bounded by Sixth and Seventh streets. The interior streets were named after Kearny Street and other thoroughfares in San Francisco's Chinatown. The buildings were made of arson-proof brick and had running water. To protect residents against attacks, a tall wooden fence was erected around the neighborhood and topped with barbed wire. Heinlen hired white guards to lock up perimeter gates and patrol the neighborhood at night. White agitators would damage the fence, necessitating repairs. Inside the compound, Chinese residents were served by a variety of merchants, barbers, traditional doctors, Chinese herbalists, and a Taoist temple, the Ng Shing Gung (Chinese: 五聖宮).[5][6]

Growth

Heinlenville became a first stop for many Chinese migrants to the Santa Clara Valley. It also drew Japanese migrants to the area, giving rise to a Japantown on Sixth Street[3] that eventually expanded to the west.[7] At its peak, Heinlenville had a population of 4,000, making it the largest Chinese community in the United States outside of San Francisco.[8] Heinlenville coexisted with the Woolen Mills Chinatown for several years. Newspapers played up a rivalry between the two settlements.[9] The city wanted the Heinlenville enterprise to fail so that the Chinese population would move to Woolen Mills, but the reverse happened in 1902.[3]

After John Heinlen died in December 1903, his children succeeded him in running the Heinlen Company, going door to door to collect rent. Heinlenville sustained damage in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but was not destroyed like the San Francisco Chinatown. Merchants quickly rebuilt and expanded their shops, benefiting from a booming local agricultural industry.[10]

Administration

Residents were governed by merchant elders, district associations, and tongs. The Sze Yup, Sam Yup, and Yeung Wo (Heungsan) associations, which were affiliates of the Chinese Six Companies, drew members based on their home regions in China, while the Chee Kong Tong operated at large. The Hop Sing Tong and Hip Sing Tong both ran gambling houses in Heinlenville and fought a series of bloody "tong wars" until 1923.[11][8]

Relations with other ethnic groups

While white neighbors rarely visited the enclave, its restaurants were popular with Japanese families on weekends, and African Americans rented rooms in Chinese-run boarding houses there.[12] During the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars, Chinese and Japanese residents maintained cordial relations, on the basis that it was their ancestral homelands who were at war, rather than San Jose neighbors.[2] Relations with the surrounding Little Italy neighborhood are also thought to have been amicable, largely because children left the enclave to attend racially integrated San Jose City Schools, unlike in other California cities.[12]

Decline and destruction

Heinlenville declined in the 1920s as younger generations sought careers in business or manufacturing, rather than shopkeeping or gambling, or sought better housing outside the aging enclave. The steady stream of new Chinese immigrants had already slowed due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and 1892 Geary Act. By the early 1930s, the Santa Clara Valley's Chinese population had dwindled to less than 1,000 people. In 1931, during the Great Depression, the Heinlen Company declared bankruptcy and sold its Heinlenville land to the city. Most remaining residents moved to Japantown. The city razed the entire neighborhood, except for the Ng Shing Gung building, to make way for a municipal corporation yard.[13]

The Hip Sing Tong sued to stop the city's planned demolition of the Ng Shing Gung. In December 1941, the city put the temple building up for auction. After outcry from the Chinese community and local newspapers, the city agreed to turn the building over to a Chinese organization for maintenance. However, by 1945, it had fallen into disrepair. Despite efforts by historian Clyde Arbuckle to save the building, it was dismantled in May 1949, with its façade, altars, and furnishings kept in storage.[14][15]

Legacy

Three buildings considered part of Heinlenville remain standing across Sixth Street from the former Heinlen property. These buildings served the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino communities at various times.[16][17] In 1991, the Ng Shing Gung temple was reconstructed in History Park in San Jose and is now a museum containing artifacts from Heinlenville.[14][15]

In 2006, the city closed its corporation yard, consolidating operations at a new Central Service Yard next to Municipal Stadium.[18] In March 2008, the Anthropological Studies Center at Sonoma State University partnered with the Redevelopment Agency of San Jose to conduct an archaeological excavation of the former Heinlenville site.[2]

In 2012, the San Jose Public Art Program partnered with Rasteroids Design on the Japantown Mural Project, which adorned the former corporation yard's perimeter fence with murals from local artists. Murals included references to Heinlenville.[19] In October 2023, as part of a redevelopment project, the city opened Heinlenville Park on the site of the former neighborhood. The park features artwork and plaques to honor both the Chinese community and Heinlen's benevolence.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Aged Pioneer Has Gone to His Rest". San Jose Mercury and Herald. San Jose, California. December 13, 1903. p. 12 – via NewsBank.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Praetzellis, Mary; Praetzellis, Adrian (2011). "Cultural Resource Management Archaeology and Heritage Values". Historical Archaeology. 45 (1). Society for Historical Archaeology: 86–100.
  3. ^ a b c d Yu, Connie Young (Fall 2016). "Chinatown & Japantown San José" (PDF). Californian. No. 43. Cupertino, California: California History Center & Foundation at De Anza College. pp. 6–12.
  4. ^ Staff report (May 30, 2001). "Stories of pride over prejudice". Los Altos Town Crier. Los Altos, California. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Potter, Laura; Yamane, Maya; Mau, Matthew; Lister, Brianna (June 2011). "San Jose Chinatowns Heritage Fair" (PDF). Market Street Chinatown Archaeological Project. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Praetzellis et al. 2008, p. 35.
  7. ^ Praetzellis et al. 2008, p. 44.
  8. ^ a b Voss 2003, p. 15.
  9. ^ "Woolen Mills Chinatown". San Jose, California: Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Praetzellis et al. 2008, pp. 40–41.
  11. ^ Praetzellis et al. 2008, p. 38.
  12. ^ a b Praetzellis et al. 2008, p. 40.
  13. ^ Praetzellis et al. 2008, p. 41.
  14. ^ a b "Chinese American Historical Museum". San Jose, California: Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Chinese American Historical Museum at the Ng Shing Gung". San Jose, California: History San José. June 16, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  16. ^ Banerjee, Devin (August 10, 2009). "Historic San Jose Japantown building up for sale". San Jose Mercury News. San Jose, California. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  17. ^ Pearce, Ralph (September 1, 2013). "Looking Back: San Jose's Last Chinatown to Today's Japantown". San Jose, California: San Jose Public Library. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  18. ^ A resolution of the Council of the City of San Jose approving the parameters of a non-binding term sheet with Williams/Dane Associates for the purchase of the city's former Corporation Yard and directing staff to continue non-binding and non-exclusive discussions with the developer for the purposes of preparing a purchase and sale agreement for City Council's consideration (PDF) (Resolution 76564). San Jose City Council. February 26, 2013. p. 1.
  19. ^ Hiura, Barbara (August 9, 2012). "An outdoor urban gallery: The San Jose Japantown mural". Nichi Bei Times. San Francisco. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  20. ^ Pizarro, Sal (October 10, 2023). "Celebration opens new Heinlenville Park in San Jose's Japantown". The Mercury News. San Jose, California. Retrieved October 22, 2023.

Further reading

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