Articles by Linda Bentz on Chinese in Ventura and Oxnard.
Big Men
History of Chinese in Oxnard
Time Line Oxnard
A walking tour of China Alley
Museum Display
Sam Fong Yi
Map of China Alley
When China Rules the Seas. Travels of Zheng He
Come visit the Treasure Fleet Display at the Ventura Maritime Museum.
Read about these sisters
News Release
Flyer
Story of Zheng He
The first Chinese in Ventura, California (
Chinease)
No picture of Ventura is complete without the Chinese pioneers who settled
here at least as early as 1865. China Alley is located in front of the
mission, down Figueroa toward the sea, between Main and Santa Clara. Chinese
farm laborers, chuck wagon cooks, construction workers and domestics toiling
in all parts of Ventura County could return to their community to find
a microcosm of Chinese society. Scholars such as Tom Lin Yan taught school
and served law courts as interpreters. Artisans, vegetable gardeners and
fishermen plied their trade. Merchants exported marine products and imported
goods from China and provided labor to the growing city of Ventura. Sam
Fong Yi not only had a store, restaurant and labor agency but also organized
Ventura's unique and famed Chinese Fire Brigade. This unique company of
Chinese fire fighters served China Alley and their surrounding commercial
and residential neighbors in Ventura. While strict national immigration
laws, local anti-Chinese sentiments, and lack of employment caused the
ultimate demise and dispossession of this vibrant community, the descendents
of our Chinese pioneers are still present and continue to enrich Ventura
County.
Look into your treasure-trove
If you have any pictures, letters, newspaper clipping, etc. of China
Alley or of early Chinese settlers in Ventura, please contact
us.
Fund Raising
Proposed Memorial of China Alley
