Glimpses of Chinatown from the early 1890s to its demise in the late 1930s. The neighborhood was torn down to build Union Station, which opened in 1939.
Chinatown’s “crib district” where bordellos flourished. Photo looks west from Alameda Street towards the Plaza. Part of the two-storied Lugo Adobe (razed in 1951) can be seen on the far right hand side in the distance, just above the building with the porch overhang. Picture was taken in 1891. (Los Angeles Public Library 00033979)
A side street that was quite well-known for its prostitution, c. 1890s. (Los Angeles Public Library 00046727)
Taken sometime between the years 1898 and 1905. The coloring of the B & W image was an early process known as Photochrome.
A Chinese family portrait, circa 1904.
According to the USC Digitial Archive, this dwelling on Juan Street in old Chinatown was allegedly haunted in 1933. Note the “For Rent” sign next to the door.
Alameda Street in Old Chinatown, c. 1937. Photographer: Herman Schultheis. (LAPL 00097498)
A 1937 view of Ferguson Alley, part of Old Chinatown (and a former red light district) that was spared the wrecking ball during the construction of Union Station. Located between Union Station and the Plaza, it was eventually razed in the early 1950s. (Photographer: Herman Schultheis/LAPL: 00097512)
A billboard in a section of Old Chinatown, circa 1938. (University of California)
