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Historic Chinese Markets of North Arizona

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Historic Chinese Markets of North Arizona

The Chinese community of Northern Arizona, has a long and rich history. The earliest Chinese people to settle in Tucson were railroad workers who arrived in the late 1800s following the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Many of the first Chinese Tucsonans were cooks or laborers for the railroad who continued to work in similar professions after their work on the railroad was complete or they were removed from their jobs following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. In Tucson, Chinese immigrants found a relatively welcoming community in Tucson’s Mexican American neighborhoods which allowed them to put down stronger roots. As the community grew, many Chinese immigrants found a profitable industry in growing vegetables along the Santa Cruz River and selling their produce to residents of Tucson. These Chinese farmers, who often sold their wares door-to-door, provided one of the only sources of fresh vegetables for the City of Tucson. Into the early twentieth century, Chinese Tucsonans opened permanent markets, laundries, and restaurants that rapidly became strong fixtures in the community.

Records from 1938 show that there were at least 60 grocery stores, 10 restaurants, and two laundries owned and operated by Chinese Tucsonans. By 1950, the number of groceries had risen to at least 114. In 1968, urban renewal leveled vast swaths of the historic Mexican American neighborhoods where many of these markets were located. This dealt a huge blow to the Chinese business community. By 1974 the number of Chinese-owned businesses had dropped to around 80. Still reeling from urban renewal and rapidly out-competed by national grocery chains, Chinese markets dwindled into near obscurity by the 2000s.Through the work of dedicated historians, artists, and community members this history has been preserved.

Thank you to the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center (https://www.tucsonchinese.org/history), and Sandy Chan (https://sandychan.net/), Howard Eng, and Feng-Feng Yeh (https://www.chinesechorizoproject.com/). Their work researching and documenting Tucson’s Chinese community was the inspiration for compiling this collection.

For more information, check out these articles from the Journal of Arizona History:

  • Delgado, Grace Peña. “Of Kith and Kin: Land, Leases, and Guanxi in Tucson’s Chinese and Mexican Communities, 1880s-1920s.” The Journal of Arizona History 46, no. 1 (2005): 33–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41696875.
  • Fong, Lawrence Michael. “SOJOURNERS AND SETTLERS: The Chinese Experience in Arizona.” The Journal of Arizona History 21, no. 3 (1980): 227–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42678261. 
  • Martínez, Priscilla M., and Grace Peña Delgado. “Beyond Border Spectacle: Oral History and Everyday Meaning in Chinese Mexican Tucson.” Journal of Arizona History 61, no. 3 (2020): 459-486. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/775434.
  • Yang, Li. “Lee Wee Kwon: Chinese Grocer in Tucson, 1917-1965.” The Journal of Arizona History 51, no. 1 (2010): 33–50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41697263