Chinatown House, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Threat: Demolition; Neglect; Insensitive public policy
Owner: Cucamonga Valley Water District

Rear facade, view northeast. Photo courtesy of O.C. Lee.

Front facade, view southwest. Photo courtesy of O.C. Lee.

The Chinatown House in Rancho Cucamonga, California was built in 1919 by and for Chinese workers. These men represented the remaining population of a Cucamonga community, which developed well before 1900 as veterans of railroad building of earlier decades worked their way south into the orchards, vineyards, and citrus groves of Southern California. Of the 15-20 Chinatown settlements scattered across Southern California during the 19th and early 20th centuries, this is the last intact remaining building outside of Los Angeles’ Old Chinatown that can help tell the story about the contributions of Chinese workers to the regional agricultural economy. Built on ranch land owned by William Araiza, the two-story building housed a general store with rooms and a dormitory for perhaps 50. It functioned also as a rooming house for workers who lived in outlying farms and came into town to socialize.

Chinatown House is constructed of walls with unreinforced hollow clay tile and clay brick, multicolored center around shades of brown and sand giving a stirring effect in the afternoon sun. After Mah Wong, the last Chinese resident who passed in 1944, the property was sold to a local family, the Navarettes, and subsequently to the Cucamonga Valley Water District in 1988.  For the past 26 years, the building has been vacant. In 2013, cracks in the 90+ year old mortar, sagging walls, and deteriorated roof led the City of Rancho Cucamonga to issue an order to the Water District to correct structural problems or demolish.

Chinatown House was added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places List in 2013. Thanks to vigorous community action, the City Planning Commission concurred with preservation advocates that the threatened demolition represented “demolition by neglect,” and that a full environmental impact report should be required prior to issuance of any demolition permit. The City has allowed for a structural evaluation of the building both in the interior and exterior, to plan next steps toward repair and reuse. 

For more information:

Eugene W. Moy

Co-Chair, Chinatown House Preservation Coalition

President, Chinese American Citizens Alliance, Los Angeles

415 Bamboo Lane

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Email: ewmoy49@gmail.com
Websites: www.savechinatownhouse.org and facebook.com/savechinatownhouse