Chicago Chinatown

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The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived around the 1849 Gold Rush. As the Chinese population moved eastward over the next few decades, along with the trans continental railroad, Chicago’s first Chinese community emerged downtown, around Clark and West Van Buren Streets.

But as Chicago’s population swelled from 500,000 to over 1 million between 1880 and 1890, the growing Chinese community needed elbow room and a place to call its own. Many moved to the near southwest portion of the city, around South Wentworth Avenue and Cermak Road, establishing what has today become Chicago’s thriving Chinatown, a densely packed, 30-block area with 27,000 residents and over 400 businesses.

A prominent building in the Chinatown streetscape has a colorful history. In the 1920s, a group of Chinese community leaders known as the On Leong decided that a bold visual statement of Chinese presence would enhance Chinatown. They erected a distinctly Chinese building, with twin pagodas on its parapets. In the 1960s, the FBI seized the building after it was discovered that it served as headquarters for organized crime activity including racketeering and gambling. Today, the non-profit Pui Tak Centre provides a community, cultural, and social services hub in the building.



Ping Tom Memorial Park's site was originally a Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad yard located along the edge of the South Branch of the Chicago River in the Armour Square Community. In 1998, the Chicago Park District began transforming the old railyard into a beautiful rolling green space, taking full advantage of the impressive river views.

Ping Tom Memorial Park holds a children's playground, community gathering areas and Chinese landscape murals.

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