If someone mentioned to you that at one time in our past history there were as many as 1500 Chinese residing here, it would take you by surprise. But that’s about the approximate number of orientals residing here, all of them ranch laborers, house servants and a few merchants.
The Chinese who found their way to Vacaville certainly did not leave their Asian mainland specifically headed to a place in California called Vacaville. In fact to them Vacaville was an unknown dot on the Pacific Coast.
Some of these thousands of Chinese did learn about Vacaville after being processed tirelessly through Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. They later were made to walk, or ride in wagons via the lowland areas south of Vacaville to get to their destinations of either the gold mines of the Mother Lode or to their arduous task of helping to carve the railroad roadbed out of the cliffs of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These chores were necessary so that the transcontinental railroad could be completed in Utah on May 10, 1869.
Thousands of Chinese were “imported” from China to do the pick and shovel work both on the railroad and also in the gold fields. At one time it is estimated as many as 25,000 Chinese had been recruited in China and shipped to San Francisco. From that point they were allocated to projects where muscle and a strong back were the only two essentials.
With work on the railroad completed, and machines replacing hand power in the gold fields, the hundreds of thousands of Chinese looked to areas of the state where their hand labor would be used. A new fruit industry had been flourishing in the Vacaville area, and these idle Chinese were selected to help cultivate the orchards.
History will tell us of the many battles waged throughout the state and in Washington, D.C. to rid the area of these Chinese, and right here in Vacaville the working whites demanded the exclusion of the orientals because they had monopolized ranch work.
The Chinese were here in such great numbers that they set aside a section of Kendal Street and baptized it Chinatown. Along the east portion of that street was a hodgepodge of wood shacks, where many of these orientals lived. A few of the buildings were used as merchandise stores, catering to the Chinese.
Local law enforcement officers enjoyed a holiday during the many years of the presence of the Chinese in Vacaville. The Chinese tongs were continually harassing and killing, but they stayed within their own ethnic group, and the officers took the position that as long as they were out to kill one another, there was no need to become alarmed. That’s the way law and order worked in those days.
It was in April 1921, that Yee Yan Wo was cultivating on the Hough Ranch, five miles north of Vacaville. He knew he was a marked man and that the day would come when the $1000 price placed for his dead body would bring him face to face with his enemies.
He carried a rifle, but on this particular day had deposited the gun at the end of the field in which he was working. Reportedly accosted by a white person, Wo was trapped and forced into a waiting automobile nearby, which contained other Chinese. He was driven to a point on Vine Avenue, then promised his release and given a chance to run through the L. DeFillippi vineyard, before he was shot three times in the back.
Following the evacuation of the Japanese in May 1942, Japtown and Chinatown, two contiguous areas, reverted to slums, and there was local clamor to rid the community of these buildings. Supported by local insistence that the areas be cleared, the federal government brought in bulldozers and completed the task in a matter of a few days. Nearly 100 years of local history went into these rubble piles and was burned.
There was minor opposition to the government’s decision to eliminate the old buildings in the area of Kendal and parts of Dobbins Streets, but there was a provision which made it mandatory that if residents in the area were to be evacuated, it would also be necessary to find suitable housing for these people.
The family of Yin Fong was among the group. The late E.J. Cox, ex-mayor, banker and businessman, was adamant in his request that homes be found for these people. A small home was provided on Dobbins Street, across from the Chamber of Commerce office, as the result of Cox’s determination. Some members of the Fong family continue to reside there today.
One building was permitted to remain standing in the entire designated slum area which was condemned. It was owned by the prominent restauranteur and rancher, Sam Lum. The two-story corrugated building was a Vacaville landmark, but is soon became the victim of wreckers who cleared the building and a parking lot was the result.
Through the doors of that building walked many of Vacaville’s most prominent men and women. Lum operated a Chinese restaurant in a portion of the building, while other sections were used as gambling dens, and rooming houses.
There are many local people here today who can well recall Yin Fong, his black suit, black vest, gold chain meandering from vest pocket to vest pocket. They can remember the Chinese New Year fireworks display he provided, and the free Chinese delicacies.
Likewise, there are many Vacaville residents who can still remember Sam Lum and his idiosyncrasies. They can well recall going into his restaurant, and having him say: “You dunno Chinese foods. Me order for you.”
Link: http://articles.solanohistory.net/7061/ | Solano History Database Record
Printed From: http://articles.solanohistory.net/7061/ | http://www.solanohistory.org/record/7061
Vacaville Heritage Council