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 May 12, 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 primarily to Guandi; it stands on China Alley in the Central Valley town of Hanford. After a fire destroyed the original Chinatown in the 1890s, the Chinese community relocated and rebuilt on China Alley, and this temple is the surviving original building. In the late nineteenth century the area was home to the second-largest Chinese community in the United States after San Francisco, and the temple stands as physical evidence of the community's scale at the time. 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 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named China Alley one of 'America's Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places.' A fire on May 12, 2021 caused serious smoke and heat damage to the second-floor temple hall and its artifacts, though the main structure survived; restoration work continues. It is a folk-religious site serving Chinese laborers and agricultural immigrants.

Highlights

• Built in 1893; NRHP (1972)
• A surviving landmark of the second-largest Chinese community in the United States
• Named one of America's most endangered historic places in 2011
• Damaged by fire in 2021