Chinatown

Chinatown. . This site was part of Carson City's Chinatown, which at one time was one of Nevada's largest Chinese Communities. In the 1880 Census Manuscript of Carson City, of the 789 Chinese, 706 were men and of these, 267 were married, 18 were widowed, 391 were single, and 30 gave no information. Among the 83 women here, 21 were married, 58 were single, and 4 gave no information. There were seven complete families. Also listed were three Chinese school teachers, suggesting that there were more than the 19 reported children, age 15 and under. These teachers were important in the effort of preserving Chinese language education. The wealthy merchants in town probably provided them with a salary. The official census count was much smaller than the real number because census takers often missed Chinese women and others who were not in the city at the time, but working as miners, lumbermen, woodchoppers, laborers, ranchers, and cowboys, and other occupations in nearby regions. The 789 Chinese held 60 different jobs including: bootblack, dishwasher, gardener, packer, porter, rag picker, servant, waiter, cook, farmer, fisherman, freighter, herder, huckster, locksmith, mule packer, peddler, sailor, scissors grinder, trainer, baker, barber, blacksmith, butcher, carpenter, clerk, chair maker, cooper, dyer, fan maker, hairdresser, hostelry, jewelry, lumberman, merchant, miller, painter, restaurant owner or worker, shoemaker, tailor, teamster, watchmaker and repairer, weaver, wood dealer, laborer, bookkeeper, chemist, dealer, dentist, physician, pharmacist, gambler, joss house operator, opium den owner, student, teacher, housewife, housekeeper, ironer, laundry owner, laundryman. The variety of occupations indicated a relatively self-sufficient community with some members who interacted with the larger community. , Carson City's Chinatown was a communication and transportation center for neighboring Chinatowns, such as the one in Virginia City. Its over seven large merchandising firms handled imported silk garments, lumber, foodstuffs, medical care, and herbal medicines between the 1850s through the 1890s. Due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent immigration acts, the Chinese American population declined drastically and Carson City's Chinatown gradually disappeared by the 1950s. New immigration acts in 1965 and later saw a new growth of Chinese American residents in Carson City. , , Sue Fawn Chung, Department of History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Chinatown Plaque developed by Eileen Cohen and Bernie Allen of the Carson City Preservation Coalition in Cooperation with Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, UNLV, Jeff Kintop and Guy Rocha, Nevada State Library and Archives, Eric Moody, Nevada State Historical Society, and Bob Nylen, Nevada State Museum. Base donated and installed by John Martin, Bison Construction. October 31, 2003.