A Walled Community

Each week, when Mark and I walk or bike to our Farmers' Market, we pass an empty city block surrounded by a chainlink fence. Inside the fence, you can see cement floors - some with linoleum still on them - and asphalt streets between. I asked my neighbor Ron what the story was behind this space. He said that the city owns the land and used the space for vehicle maintenance. The buildings have been torn down and the property is supposed to be developed into a high rise with stores on the ground floor - a common plan around here. But the current economy has put all that on hold. And then he mentioned that before that, the area was a Chinatown..... This peaked my curiosity. Ron didn't have many details. So I did some research and learned that - Yes. That block was once surrounded by a brick wall that protected a whole community of Chinese families.....
According to a document created for the Society for Industrial Archeology Conference in 2008, the community was called Heinlenville. The San Jose area was once full of many prejudiced people. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this community lynched 2 men, tarred and feathered another and happily loaded Japanese Americans onto buses headed for internment camps. The anti-Asian sentiment was rampant. Before the Chinatown in my neighborhood, there were two other Chinatowns in San Jose. Both were mysteriously burned. A German immigrant, John Heinlen purchased the block and created a safe place for the Chinese families to live. Mr Heinlen built a new Chinatown entirely of brick despite outrage from the general public. He then rented these buildings to the Chinese. This community continued from 1887 to 1931. Heinlen was a German immigrant who came to California for the gold rush. He and his wife attended a Methodist Episcopal church that taught Chinese children. The church mysteriously burned in 1869. After the second Chinatown mysteriously burned, Heinlen offered some property to the Chinese businessmen. The property (near my neighborhood) also bordered the large homes of many of San Jose's wealthiest members. There was a parade in protest of Heinlen's actions and the city council tried to dissuade him from doing this. He refused.
"At the time, just five years after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the prejudice
against the Chinese was intense. And the presence of opium dens and gambling parlors
made it an easy target for newspapers who dubbed Heinlen “Ah Heinlen”. Heinlen died in 1903 at the age of 88. None of his seven children married. The Heinlen empire dissolved quickly during the Depression, when his heirs were no longer able to collect rent or pay taxes. The Heinlen Co. went bankrupt, and by early 1932, the City cleared away most of Chinatown, leaving only the temple and a few structures. In 1949, the land became a corporation yard, where the city parked and repaired its trucks." (from the article mentioned) One of the best parts of living in "downtown" (as my SJ friends call my neighborhood) is that it is a mix of so many cultures. We have a Buddhist temple, Latino iglesias, an Afro-American gospel church, a Philippino church and an Islamic center all within a short distance of our home. I can shop at Mi Pueblo or several Asian markets all within walking distance. It makes me realize that the world is a small place. And it is best to get along.


Note: to read the full article about San Jose,click here
(the link is to a Google document and may not open in Safari)