Chinatown, Spokane

Spokane Chinatown
Neighborhood of Spokane
Coordinates: 47°39′32″N 117°25′30″W / 47.65889°N 117.42500°WCoordinates: 47°39′32″N 117°25′30″W / 47.65889°N 117.42500°W
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Spokane County
City	Spokane, Washington
ZIP Code	99202
Area code(s)	Area code 509

A fair sized Chinatown existed in Spokane for years that started when the railroad came through in 1883. It consisted of a network of alleys between Front Avenue (today's Spokane Falls Boulevard) and Main Avenue that stretched east from Howard Avenue to Bernard Street about four blocks. The Chinese population gradually thinned out until the alley became abandoned by the 1940s. All the remains of Chinatown were demolished for parking for Spokane's Expo '74.

History

The Great Northern Railroad Depot Clocktower in 1973, exactly one year before the Expo opened.

In the 1880s, Spokane had a "bustling Chinatown" which was as big as three to four blocks "... stretching from Howard Street to Bernard Street ..." along Spokane Falls Blvd. It earned the nickname "Japanese Alley" or "Trent Alley".^[1] More sources said that the Chinatown swelled even more during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era with the internment of Asian peoples due to the war against Japan.^[2] An old newspaper article shows that an annual convention for the Chinese Hip Sing organization was held in 1924.^[3]

References

1. "Spokane's Chinatown".
2. "Spokane Neighborhoods: Old Chinatown -- Trent Alley -- Thumbnail History".
3. "Spokane's Chinatown in Gala Dress for Delegates to Hip Sing Convention".