![]() ![]() A Chinese consul visiting Denver estimated that it was more likely a total of 450 Chinese immigrants. Of those, 225 were men, most of whom did laundry or worked as cooks. Further: Frances Wisebart Jacobs § Denver's Jewish Hospital Associationīy 1880, there were 238 Chinese residents. Public health became another excuse to oust Chinamen from the city. The entire city was not clean, but ethnic enclaves for the Chinese, Italians, and the Irish were worse. Bancroft (who created Denver's public health system) claimed that Denver was one of the dirtiest cities in the country. By the 1880s, 10,000 people in Denver had tuberculosis this was one-third of the city's population. Colorado became the "sanatorium to the world" and the disease spread throughout the city. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad, tuberculosis patients came to Colorado beginning in the 1870s for the dry, sunny climate and high altitudes. There were open sewers, trash-filled rivers, cows and pigs that freely walked the streets, and carcasses of dead cats and rats in the streets. The town grew quickly, but did not have the infrastructure to manage the influx of people and public health issues. According to historian Robert Athearn, its residents adapted to living in a hovel because of "the strength of their old-world heritage and their religion". ![]() They lived in a poor neighborhood along the South Platte River between Highland and downtown Denver called "The Bottoms". It was a very poor district, but it provided some safety, a shared cultural heritage, community support, and a place to buy and sell goods unique to their culture. It was located next to the red-light district on Holliday Street, now Market Street. Wazee was probably a Cantonese name for "Street of the Chinese". By the fall of 1870 there were 42 Chinese men and women living along Wazee Street, establishing what was first known as Chinaman's Row. Hong Lee lived in a shanty at Wazee and F Streets and ran a washing and ironing laundry business. The Jedition of the Colorado Tribune announced "the first John Chinaman in Denver". High wages eat up the profits of farms, put an embargo on thousands of lodes that might otherwise be profitable, hinder manufacturers, and act in general as an incubus on our efforts.ĭenver from the Highlands, by Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, 1874 In 1870, they were encouraged to come to Colorado by the Territorial legislature to meet the needs for agricultural and other cheap laborers to "hasten the development and early prosperity of the Territory". Once the transcontinental railroad was completed (May 10, 1869), and California gold mines were depleted, they moved inland. Migration to Denver Ĭhinese immigrants, most of whom were men, moved from the West Coast where they had been railroad workers, miners, and businesspeople to Colorado. There were at least three Chinatown boundaries in the city of Denver, the first established along Wazee Street and the last being located on Market and Larimer Streets. The boundaries of Chinatown changed over time, but extended from approximately 15th to 20th Streets, and from Market to Wazee Streets. By 1940, Chinatown had few Asian inhabitants and the district was razed as part of an urban renewal project. Some people moved away soon after the riot, others stayed and rebuilt Chinatown, but the residents continued to experience racial discrimination. The Chinese were not compensated for their property loss. One man was killed and dozens sustained severe injuries. ![]() In 1880, a white mob attacked Chinese people, their homes and their businesses, virtually destroying all of Chinatown. Anti-Chinese sentiment escalated to mob rule in Chinese enclaves throughout the Western United States. In Denver, most of the Chinese operated laundries, picking up a need for Denver's residents. Men who had worked on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad or had been miners in California crossed over the Rocky Mountains after their work was completed or mines were depleted in California. More Chinese immigrants arrived in the town the following year. The first Chinese resident of Denver, Hong Lee, arrived in 1869 and lived in a shanty at Wazee and F Streets and ran a washing and ironing laundry business. It was also referred to as "Hop Alley", based upon a slang word for opium. ![]()
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