Remains of the Chinese town of Locke, California

Chinese Medicine Store in Locke, CA

We drove up the levee along the Sacramento River, not realizing until later that it had been built by Chinese laborers around the turn of the 20th century. Why didn't we know? We were going to a Chinese-built hamlet, Locke, a near-ghost town on the National Register of Historic Places. There's a pretty good article about Locke in Wikipedia, here.

I knew about Locke not from its history, but because my friend Jessie Ortiz took me there about 20 years ago on a sightseeing trip. Little did I know that such a story of migration and suffering and persistence surrounded the town.

Chinese laborers came mainly from southern China around Canton and were looked down upon by nearly everyone in their new country, taken advantage of and given the physically hardest tasks. Building levees, laying railroad track, digging tunnels - hard work!

A tiny part of  the Sacramento River levee -
think of moving so much dirt and muck by shovel!
Credit: Google Commons

Meanwhile, they couldn't build solid lives in their new country, because they couldn't buy property, couldn't become citizens, and couldn't bring single, marriageable women from China. They were stuck.

I have the idea from other reading that most of the first generation of Chinese in America grew old and died without ever having families. But some few more successful or diligent managed to marry in China and bring women already their wives to this country, so some families appeared. They gradually became farmers and fishermen, and in the next generation, or the next, changes in immigration law encouraged their children to get education and move on into mainstream America. Locke emptied out.

The hamlet, once a home for laborers, stands now as a tourist town, perfect for a day trip from San Francisco and the Bay Area. Here are some pictures of the old details, and a few newer details, too.

There are only 3 streets in Locke, but they are curious

Along the boardwalk

Alley steps leading to a higher street

There have been efforts to retain the significance of the past lives of Locke residents -- a memorial park, and continuing maintenance of the Chinese school, and a book. But there are fears it will be changed beyond recognition, or vanish. One element preserving it is a clouded title to the land, preventing development for the time being. Chinese couldn't own property in those days, so the land belonged to the town's namesake, a Mr. Locke. How that property came down, is surely a story in itself.

Bronze panel in historical park

At the Chinese School

A book about Locke, but the shop was closed

There are some galleries too among the more old-fashioned shops.

Gallery called The Shack

Street view

We had lunch at the Locke Garden Cafe. 

In the Locke Garden Cafe

Another shot in the Locke Cafe

So, Locke. What a nice afternoon, as we brought home our lemon chicken and beef chow fun leftovers. Not life-changing, but evocative of the past, a reminder that our current world was made by the work and hopes and achievements and sufferings of many people. Ghosts, now, but worth remembering.

by Nancy