Chinese American Portland: History

After gold was discovered in southern Oregon, trade in furs, lumber and agricultural products began between China and Portland. In 1851, the Tong Sung Restaurant and Boarding House opened its doors in Portland. Recruiters drew Chinese men, most from the Kwangtung Province of Canton in southern China, to work in the United States, where they endured backbreaking labor: building bridges, tunnels, railroad beds and mining. Workers continued immigrating here into the 20th century, taking jobs in salmon canneries, as well as in the iron, paper and textile industries. In the city, Chinese laborers also worked as launderers, gardeners, cooks and domestic servants.

Even so, the Chinese community faced discrimination. In 1852 the Oregon constitution barred incoming Chinese from buying or owning property. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented further immigration to the United States from China. These laws were not repealed until 1943.

Until 1900, Portland had the second-largest Chinese population on the West Coast; only San Francisco’s Chinatown was larger. Portland’s Old Chinatown stretched from Southwest Taylor to Pine, and from Third Avenue to the west bank of the Willamette River. Chinese merchants catered to traditional tastes, offering housing, groceries, clothing, medicine, and a variety of services, restaurants and theaters. Vendors lined the streets. During Chinese New Year, Chinatown was aglow with paper lanterns and the staccato explosions of firecrackers filled the air.

After a major flood in 1894, Old Chinatown was vacated, and businesses relocated north of Burnside Street, to the area known today as Old Town/Chinatown.