China Alley keeps Hanford's rural Chinatown story visible

Kings County history includes farms, rail lines, county buildings, and Hanford’s China Alley, which keeps a rarer story visible: a rural Chinatown with old features still in place.

Hanford began near a Chinese sheepherder’s camp after Southern Pacific built rail lines through the area in 1877. The town grew into a trade center. China Alley became part of that early farm and rail economy.

The Taoist Temple at 12 China Alley dates to 1893. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The alley has a clear anchor instead of only a general memory of an old neighborhood.

China Alley is worth treating gently. Many rural Chinatowns faded or were erased by fire, neglect, new building, or simple forgetting. Hanford kept enough that the place still shows who helped build and shape the county.

China Alley widens the picture of Valley history. It adds Chinese immigrant life, religion, business, labor, and community memory to a story that can otherwise sound only agricultural.