Introduction to Locke Town

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Near the capital of California, Sacramento, there is a town called Locke, which was completely built by Chinese immigrants in the last century. It also has a meaningful and warm Chinese name, "乐居" (Lèjū).

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Located 30 miles south of Sacramento, Locke is a small town built in the early 20th century that looks completely different from other towns in the western United States. Over twenty buildings on its main street are built in a Chinese style, and to this day, the town is still "alive," with people living and working here.

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How did this town start? After the completion of the transcontinental railroad, over 10,000 Chinese laborers left the railway construction sites in three directions: some returned to their home country, some traveled across the United States, and some came to the Sacramento Delta. At that time, this area was a desolate swamp, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers lying across the swamp only brought floods to the flat land. The railway workers were mostly farmers before coming to the United States, and they had rich experience in water management. After returning to farming from railway work, they built dams and levees and tamed the unruly rivers that had caused floods for thousands of years.

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In 1915, a fire destroyed the area around Walnut Grove, where Chinese farmers lived, most of whom came from Zhongshan, Guangdong. They hoped to rebuild a town with characteristics of their hometown and belonged to them. In the early 20th century, California law prohibited foreign immigrants from owning land. So these Chinese immigrants found George Locke, an American who owned large tracts of land, and asked to build a Chinese town on his land. Locke agreed to their request, and a contract was signed between the two parties. In 1920, a town with a unique style and named "Locke," after the landlord's surname, was built.

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In the first half of the 20th century, around the 1930s and 1940s, Locke Town was bustling. There were not only restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, and Chinese schools but also casinos, opium dens, and several well-operated brothels, earning it the nickname "Monte Carlo of California." At its peak, the Chinese population in Locke Town reached over 600, with over 1,000 seasonal laborers. The Kuomintang once had a branch here, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China, visited here when raising funds overseas.

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In 1990, Locke Town was listed as a National Historic Landmark in the United States. Today, the town is very quiet, with fewer than a hundred permanent residents. Most of the Chinese Americans have moved to other towns, especially the second generation, who have integrated into mainstream American communities. However, there are still a few elderly Chinese Americans who are willing to stay in Locke Town, regardless of how the world around them changes. There is also an artist who moved from a big city to here, going against the trend.