Last remnants of Old Chinatown, Los Angeles (corner of Sunset Blvd. and N Los Angeles St). Demolished circa 1949 for construction of Hollywood Freeway.
> Street scene of Old Chinatown, Los Angeles (Calif.)
Last To Go–These buildings, at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and N Los Angeles St., will be the next and last to be removed leaving Old Chinatown a memory. Hollywood Freeway and Civic Center soon will “take over.” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
that_was_me_amasays
They did the same thing throughout California and built freeways through Different China towns in different cities. They did the same thing in that little town of grass Valley, back in the 40s there was a large population of Chinese people in grass Valley. Now there’s virtually zero. The only Chinese people who live there now are not descendants but imported.
So basically they built the freeways intentionally through Chinatowns in different cities to get rid of the Chinese people. It worked because you cannot find Chinatown except in San Francisco. Maybe there’s more but I’m not aware. But there used to be in Chinatown in every city in California. Now they’re just freeways
Fisher212121says
Los Angeles must be the worst for intentionally destroyed architecture. Here’s a piece on the building of Dodgers Stadium by bulldozing an Indian community: [https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/episodes/before-the-dodgers](https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/episodes/before-the-dodgers)
Just curious, there was that scene at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit when the guy reveals he wanted to get rid of Toon-Town and build a freeway in its place.
The movie took place in LA in the late 40s too. Was it a reference to this freeway by any chance?
[Here’s](https://i.redd.it/5ygprlnh0ef21.jpg) a great photo of the surrounding area right before it was demolished. Funny enough, I was just about to post it on this sub. This post pretty much covers it though.
goharvorgohome says
St. Louis lost our China Town around the same time. It was called Hop Alley. Currently the area is now Busch Stadium
bertiebees says
America loves demolishing non white communities to build other crap we don’t actually need.
TheFezig says
Forget about it, it’s Chinatown.
Gotta love how they can rip it down but still use it as a movie plot device. What a shame.
liarandathief says
“Come on! Nobody’s going to drive this lousy freeway when they can take the Red Car for a nickel.”
sverdrupian says
source: [California Digital Library](http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb4w100695/?order=1).
> Street scene of Old Chinatown, Los Angeles (Calif.)
Last To Go–These buildings, at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and N Los Angeles St., will be the next and last to be removed leaving Old Chinatown a memory. Hollywood Freeway and Civic Center soon will “take over.” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
that_was_me_ama says
They did the same thing throughout California and built freeways through Different China towns in different cities. They did the same thing in that little town of grass Valley, back in the 40s there was a large population of Chinese people in grass Valley. Now there’s virtually zero. The only Chinese people who live there now are not descendants but imported.
So basically they built the freeways intentionally through Chinatowns in different cities to get rid of the Chinese people. It worked because you cannot find Chinatown except in San Francisco. Maybe there’s more but I’m not aware. But there used to be in Chinatown in every city in California. Now they’re just freeways
Fisher212121 says
Los Angeles must be the worst for intentionally destroyed architecture. Here’s a piece on the building of Dodgers Stadium by bulldozing an Indian community: [https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/episodes/before-the-dodgers](https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/episodes/before-the-dodgers)
Long before Sandy Koufax threw Dodger Stadium’s first pitch, and even before the first residents moved into Chavez Ravine, there were the Elysian Hills. Raised up by tectonic forces, and carved into deep ravines by the ancient precursor of the Los Angeles River, these hills have meant many things to many people. They were a refuge from floods for the region’s native Tongva Indians, and then a source of quarried stone soon after the city fell under American sovereignty. In this episode, “Lost LA” explores the various ways Southern California’s inhabitants have used the hills around Dodger Stadium. The program looks at an old [**lithographic view of L.A.**](http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/the-view-from-dodger-stadium-in-1877.html) as drawn from an Elysian hilltop, the vanished neighborhood of [**Chavez Ravine**](http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/history-of-chavez-ravine.html), and a massive [**construction project**](http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/they-moved-mountains-to-build-dodger-stadium.html) that reshaped the land into a modern baseball palace.
blueeyedbanditjr says
Just curious, there was that scene at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit when the guy reveals he wanted to get rid of Toon-Town and build a freeway in its place.
The movie took place in LA in the late 40s too. Was it a reference to this freeway by any chance?
moose098 says
I’m guessing this is near [Ferguson Alley](https://ladailymirror.com/2013/09/24/rediscovering-los-angeles-ferguson-alley/)? Such a pity it was destroyed. There were a few Civil War era saloons in that area, which would have been really cool if they survived until today.
[Here’s](https://i.redd.it/5ygprlnh0ef21.jpg) a great photo of the surrounding area right before it was demolished. Funny enough, I was just about to post it on this sub. This post pretty much covers it though.
Old Chinatown is notably for being the site of [Chinese Massacre of 1871](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_massacre_of_1871), the largest mass lynching in US history.