Lacy in Santa Ana in Orange County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Chinatown Memorial 2024
Photographed by Tatiana Zavala, March 19, 2025
1. Chinatown Memorial 2024 Marker
This monument memorializes the contributions, resilience, and strength of the early Chinese immigrants, their descendants, and today's Chinese-American community who continue to be an integral part of Santa Ana.
On May 17, 2022, the Santa Ana City Council adopted a resolution apologizing to Chinese immigrants and their descendants for acts of injustice and of past policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a U.S. law that restricted immigration, and other restrictive laws that discriminated and limited economic opportunities in the 1860s to 1900s. Such laws and racial bias fueled anti-Chinese hate, while decades of institutional racism and xenophobia perpetuated anti-Chinese sentiment.
On June 21, 2022, the City Council approved a resolution to repeal Resolution No. 416 by the former Santa Ana Board of Trustees, which authorized the destruction by fire of Chinatown. The City Council condemned these acts of hatred and racism that led to the destruction of homes and businesses, and the displacement of Santa Ana's early Chinese community. The City of Santa Ana acknowledges the resilience of the Chinese community
this page online
Erected 2024.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian Americans • Civil Rights • Immigration. A significant historical year for this entry is 1882.
Location. 33° 44.833′ N, 117° 51.988′ W. Marker is in Santa Ana, California, in Orange County. It is in Lacy. It is at the intersection of East 3rd Street and North Bush Street, on the right when traveling west on East 3rd Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Santa Ana CA 92701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Los Angeles and in the Peninsular Ranges. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Dragon Confectionary (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Santa Ana's Birthplace
Photographed by Tatiana Zavala, March 20, 2025
2. Chinatown Memorial 2024 Marker
Another marker is no longer nearby. The Episcopal Church of the Messiah (was approx. Ό mile away but has been confirmed missing).
More about this marker. On a boulder on the north east corner of Bush St. and 3rd St. near Parking Lot 1
Also see . . . Santa Anas Chinatown Memorial.
In the late 1800s, a community of over 200 Chinese immigrant workers occupied a part of Downtown Santa Ana.(Submitted on March 20, 2025, by Tatiana Zavala of Orange County, California.)
During its peak years, there were as many as 800 Chinese residents living in Santa Ana. They took over abandoned abode huts, or any quarters they could find, and used them as shops and living quarters.
These residents were nation builders and despite considerable discrimination against these Chinese residents, by the late 1860s they thrived... Santa Anas Chinatown once included lodging, drugstores, curio shops, two Chinese wash houses and a vegetable garden and barn. It was a community...
The burning down of Chinatown in Santa Ana was one of the most brazen, racist acts, which was officially sanctioned by the Santa Ana Board of Trustees in 1906. This anti-Asian violence is exemplary of the racially motivated hate that was generated by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Additional keywords. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Credits. This page was last revised on August 26, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 20, 2025, by Tatiana Zavala of Orange County, California. This page has been viewed 450 times since then and 87 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 20, 2025, by Tatiana Zavala of Orange County, California. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
