Today, our Second Half group toured the town of Locke, California. It is located on the Sacramento River.
The Locke Boarding House is a California State Park
The Main Street is owned privately, but the structures are included in the National Historic Registry.
The Chinese began to migrate to California during the Gold Rush. Between 1860 and 1880, the Chinese workers helped create the Delta by building levees and draining land for farming. A group of Chinese immigrants approached an orchard owner to ask if they could lease some ground to create a town on it. Nine acres were leased. The Chinese built homes and businesses with inexpensive building materials. After all, they were not allowed to own any land. The buildings were built between 1915 and 1917. There was a Chinese theater, hotel, Chinese school, bordellos and several gambling houses. Governor Pat Brown, "Moonbeam"'s father, shut down the final gambling house during his term.
Today, the Locke Foundation is making an effort to preserve the town as living history of the Chinese immigrants.
At one time, there were 600 residents. Today there are 70, and 8 of them are Chinese.
