Isleton Chinese and Japanese Commercial Districts, Historic Asian district in Isleton, California.
The Isleton Chinese and Japanese Commercial Districts occupy a two-block stretch of Main Street in Isleton, in California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The district holds 41 contributing buildings on 6 acres, most built after a fire on May 30, 1926, and many clad in pressed tin siding. Japanese-American homes and businesses lined one side of the street, Chinese-American ones the other; the Bing Kong Tong used a building at 29 Main Street.
A fire on May 30, 1926 destroyed the earlier Main Street, and more than 50 buildings were rebuilt in the two blocks that form the district. Chinese and Japanese residents divided the street, with Japanese-American homes and businesses on one side and Chinese-American ones on the other. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 with 41 contributing buildings on 6 acres, including the Bing Kong Tong building at 29 Main Street. After the internment of Japanese-Americans, the area never regained its multi-ethnic population.
Main Street was split along ethnic lines: Japanese-American homes and businesses on one side, Chinese-American ones on the other. The Bing Kong Tong, a Chinese fraternal association, occupied a building at 29 Main Street. The district served as the social and commercial hub for cannery, farm and ranch laborers.
The district is best explored on foot, and daytime visits offer the best chance to see the exteriors of the historic structures and street layouts. The location sits in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, so having a vehicle helps for reaching it from the nearest larger town.
The pressed tin siding on many Main Street facades is not decorative: it was a fire-prevention measure after the blaze of May 30, 1926, which destroyed the earlier buildings. More than 50 original structures from the rebuilding survive, and the Bing Kong Tong occupied a building at 29 Main Street.
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