CHINESE HISTORICAL MUSEUM / HOME OF AH QUIN

The Chinese Historical Museum is housed in the historic Chinese Mission building, where immigrants in the early part of the 20th century would gather, learn English and find work. Today, the museum celebrates the long history and heritage of San Diego’s Chinese community and includes a beautiful Asian garden.

While this is not the original location of this particular building, this part of town was once Chinatown. Turn left on 3rd Avenue and across the street, at 433 3rd Avenue; you'll see the former home and storefront of Ah Quin, the unofficial "Mayor of Chinatown" and one of San Diego’s founding fathers. Ah Quin emigrated to America in 1868 at the age of 20 and settled in San Diego about ten years later to help procure Chinese laborers to build the railroad. The produce store he opened here was his base of operations. Over the years, he became one of the most powerful and influential figures in San Diego. Not only did he serve as a go-between and translator between the Asian and white communities, but he also lead the way in bringing law and order to this part of town. And as we’ll start to learn at our next stop, that was no easy task.

Photo “San Diego Chinese Historical Museum” by Smart Destinations is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0