Dragon Alley

During this district’s boom of 1881–1884, sixteen thousand Chinese established themselves within this area of Victoria, and six blocks of businesses, theatres, a hospital, schools, churches, temples, opium factories, gambling dens, and brothels emerged, creating for Victoria’s Chinese community Canada’s first and largest Chinatown. This lot between Fisgard and Herald originally was the site of wooden huts leased to the Chinese. Building A, the Hart’s Block on Herald Street, was built by Michael Hart in 1891, replacing the huts with a two storey brick building that became a livery for the rental of horses on the main level while the second floor was used as a brothel. At the same time, Building B on Fisgard Street, also owned by Hart, was constructed and occupied by Chinese tenants for a store on the ground floor and residential units above. In 1911 the property was bought by Quan Yuen Yen and Joe Gar Chow, who constructed a two storey tenement building, Building C, designed by local architect Samuel Buttrey Birds and used as housing for single Chinese residents. Its unique ground level layout provided a network of intimate alleyways and lightwells, much like an interior village. This maze-like planning resembled the layout of Chinese cities, with a labyrinth of narrow alleys, interior courts, and internal passageways behind the façade of commercial storefronts, creating a unique neighbourhood secluded from public view. The Hart’s Block, Building A, and Building C were derelict and unoccupied before restoration and revitalization made possible in part by grants and tax incentives from the City of Victoria and the Victoria Civic Heritage Trust, and Dragon Alley officially opened on December 30, 2000.

British Columbia · Canada