Chinatown (Pittsburgh) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Chinatown
Sub-neighborhood
Old buildings in Chinatown Pittsburgh
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Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Allegheny County
City	Pittsburgh
ZIP Code	15219
Area code(s)	Area code 412

The U.S. city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was home to a "small, but busy" Chinatown, located at the intersection of Grant Street and Boulevard of the Allies in Downtown Pittsburgh where only two Chinese restaurants remain. The On Leong Society was located there. According to the article, "... the first Chinese community in Pittsburgh developed around Wylie Avenue above Court Place," according to a 1942 newsletter of the American Service Institute of Allegheny County. The Chinatown spread to Grant Street, and then "... to Water Street and then spread out to Second and Third avenues."

History

The Chinatown grew from waves of Chinese immigrants who came east from California after the 1849 Gold Rush and the transcontinental railroads. The immigrants came from the area around Canton in China. According to the article, the Chinatown was primarily centered on Second Avenue with merchant names such as "Wing Hong Chinese Co., 519 Second Ave" and "Quong Chong Shing, 511 Second Ave", all of whom have been driven out when the Boulevard of the Allies was built forcing demolition of all buildings on Second Avenue, sometime by the 1950s. Even by the 1930s, "... the Chinatown was rapidly vanishing."

Images for kids

Built in 1922 in Pittsburgh's old Chinatown
Old Pittsburgh Chinatown on Blvd. of the Allies
Chinatown's only remaining Chinese restaurant

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