China Alley, Hanford

About China Alley

China Alley in Hanford is a short historic street in downtown near Seventh and Green Streets featuring eleven brick buildings that trace their roots to 1877, when Chinese immigrants arrived to work on the railroads and in farming and agriculture. Visitors step back into history as they walk through the alley and encounter buildings that remain largely unaltered from over a century ago. The historic district once housed restaurants, homes, boarding houses, grocery stores, laundries, herb shops with herbal doctors, sundries stores, gambling establishments, a Chinese school, and a Taoist Temple. Many buildings are visually preserved as they stood when the alley was known as a "city within a city," with bricks formed and fired on site. The China Alley Preservation Society, founded in 1972, maintains the site to share the heritage and history of Chinese-Americans who helped establish Hanford and contribute to understanding the American West. The alley offers a fascinating adventure for those interested in learning about early immigrant communities and their cultural legacy.