Not many know about Salt Lake’s Chinatown that once occupied Plum Alley, a narrow alley running north and south between 100 and 200 South Streets and between State and Main Streets in downtown Salt Lake City.
Restaurants, laundries, grocery stores, and various shops occupied Plum Alley in the late 1800s and early 1900s and housed nearly 2,000 Chinese immigrants.
Plum Alley served as the center for Chinese culture in Salt Lake and included places of worship, legal aid, and work placement services. The neighborhood was home of Yee Hing Lodge (Chinese Free Masons), Hang Far Low (restaurant), Hop Wo & Co. (dealer in fine silks), and many other businesses.
Every Chinese New Year (usually January or February) the community gathered for feasting, gifts, fireworks, and the traditional Dragon dance parade featuring a 200 foot Chinese dragon.
Many individuals in Salt Lake City, especially those not of Asian decent, tended to view Chinatown as an illicit center full of widespread illegal activities such as gambling and opium dens.
However, all social classes and ethnicities of Salt Lake tended to frequent the opium and gambling dens. In fact, Plum Alley was often raided by police with the names of arrested individuals reported in the local newspapers.
Salt Lake’s Chinatown was torn down in 1952 and the Regent Street Parking Terrace now occupies the location.
External Links and Sources
- Utah Division of State History historic photographs of Plum Alley
- Beehive Archive article on Plum Alley
- KUED History of Chinese in Utah
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