Taoist Temple, Hanford汉福德关帝庙（China Alley）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

United States · California · Hanford · No. 12 China Alley

Coordinates

36.3281, -119.6378 Map ↗

First built

1893 · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, reference number 72000226; a fire on 12 May 2021 damaged the second-floor temple hall

Heritage status

U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (1972, reference number 72000226)

Overview

The Taoist Temple, Hanford, was built in 1893 and is dedicated principally to Guandi; it stands on China Alley in Hanford, in the Central Valley. After a fire destroyed the original Chinese Quarter in the 1890s, the Chinese community moved to China Alley and rebuilt there, and this temple is the surviving original building. In the late nineteenth century the place was an important centre of Chinese settlement in California’s San Joaquin Valley, and it is the only Chinese Quarter in that valley to survive intact to the present day (English-language sources often state that its Chinese population was second only to that of San Francisco, but no primary source for this has been found and the claim is doubtful). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 (reference number 72000226) and is today managed by the China Alley Historic District, which offers monthly guided tours. In 2011 China Alley was named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation one of “America’s Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places.” A fire on 12 May 2021 caused severe smoke and heat damage to the second-floor temple hall and its objects, although the main structure survived; restoration work continues. It is a site of popular religion serving communities of Chinese labourers and agricultural immigrants.

Highlights

• Built in 1893; NRHP (1972)
• The only Chinese Quarter in the San Joaquin Valley to survive intact
• Named one of America’s most endangered historic places in 2011
• Damaged by fire in 2021