El Paso's Chinese Community
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Chinese immigrants first arrived in El Paso shortly before the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its line here in 1881. The earliest immigrants opened a rooming house and a grocery store. Soon afterwards, the U.S. government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) which restricted Chinese immigration. However, enough Chinese remained to create a vibrant community throughout downtown El Paso. Into the early 1920s, El Paso's Chinese community was the largest in Texas. The Chinese contributed to the area's economy largely by growing and selling fruits and vegetables for the local market, and by opening businesses, including laundries and restaurants. The mostly-male sojourners sent earning to families in China, with the intention of returning home. While retaining their native culture through language (most spoke the Toishonese dialect), food, community associations and traditions, the newcomers also adopted area languages and customs. The immigrants experienced discrimination, but faced fewer problems here than did the Chinese in other parts of the United States. Chinese continued to migrate to El Paso into the 20th century. During the Mexican Revolution, General John J. Pershing brought hundreds of Chinese into the United States for their protection from racial violence. They were legally allowed to immigrate following General Pershing's petition to Congress. The Chinese continued to immigrate to the city during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Another wave began in the late 1940s, prompted by the Communist takeover of China. Today, Chinese El Pasoans continue to maintain a sense of community in the city they helped develop. (2008)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chinese immigrants reached El Paso just as the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in 1881, opening a rooming house and grocery even as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 slammed the door on newcomers nationwide. Those who stayed built the largest Chinese community in Texas, growing produce and running laundries and restaurants while sending earnings home. Later waves came under unusual circumstances—hundreds escorted north by General Pershing during the Mexican Revolution, then refugees from the Great Depression and the Communist victory in China—each generation weaving Chinese life more deeply into the border city.
Why it matters
It records a resilient immigrant community that endured exclusion-era racism to help build a major American border city, a chapter of Chinese American history often lost between the coasts.
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Related people
- · John J. Pershing
Related events
- · Chinese Exclusion Act
- · Mexican Revolution
Themes & tags
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