Our Mission
Founded in 1972, the China Alley Preservation Society (CAPS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, sharing, and revitalizing the heritage of Chinese/Americans in Hanford, CA and its surrounding areas.
We are brought together by a common goal to promote public awareness of the history, customs, and culture of early Chinese immigrants who helped create the city of Hanford and contributed to the founding of the American West. We envision the historic China Alley to become a unique cultural resource, where patrons frequent to learn about history, where scholars and artists visit to conduct research, and where a new and culturally diverse community takes roots.
Our History
China Alley in Hanford, California is a short street featuring eleven historic buildings near Seventh and Green Streets in downtown Hanford. The alley entrance is on Green Street just north of Seventh Street.
China Alley traces its roots to 1877, when the Central Pacific railroad was extended westward into the area and the new town of Hanford was formed. Numerous Chinese came to the area, many initially to help build the railroads, but others came for farming and agricultural purposes.
The alley grew rapidly and the Chinatown prospered to include restaurants, homes, boarding houses, grocery stores, laundries, herb shops with reputable herbal doctors, sundries stores, gambling establishments, a Chinese school and a Taoist Temple. It soon became known as a "city within a city" with buildings lining both sides of the alley made from bricks formed and fired on site.
Visiting Hanford's China Alley Historic District is a fascinating adventure that allows us to step back into history. As visitors enter China Alley today, they are met with a sense of historic ambiance that is reminiscent of a strong cultural heritage. Many of the buildings lining the alley are visually unaltered and remain largely as they did over 100 years ago.
