Old Chinatown District--Circa 1890

In the 1850s, Chinese came to California, a land they called Gum Shan, meaning Mountain of Gold, to seek their fortune as others did. As placer gold played out, they took jobs building railroads, dams, levees, and highways. In Chinatown, people could come together for comfort, safety, and religious purposes, free from the persecution to which they were accustomed. Families typically conducted business and lived in the same building, and at one time a network of tunnels connected the buildings to each other. This area remains a link to the Chinese presence and cultural heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Colusa, California · United States