History of Chinese Americans in St. Louis


The history of Chinese Americans in St. Louis began in 1857, with the arrival of 24-year-old Alla Lee in St. Louis, Missouri; it continues through the present day.

History

A native of Ningbo, China, Alla Lee socialized with the Irish American community and married an Irish woman. He sold coffee and tea in a shop on North Tenth Street.
Around 1867, several hundred Chinese moved from New York and San Francisco to find work in factories and mines in and around St. Louis. The community they settled, Hop Alley, became St. Louis' Chinatown.
In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the ethnic Chinese population was less than 0.1% of the city's population—but they provided 60% of the city's laundry services. At the turn of the century, there were 300 Chinese in St. Louis.
The size of the population had not much changed by 1960, when 102 Chinese lived in the city's suburbs, making up 30% of the Greater St. Louis Chinese. The move to the Missouri suburbs was accelerated in 1966, when Chinatown was demolished to make room for a parking lot for Busch Stadium. By 1970, 461 lived in the suburbs, making up 80% of the area population.
In 1980 the number increased to 3,873, making up 78% of the area population. In 1990, the number increased to 3,873, making up 83% of the area total.
The 2000 U.S. census said that there were 9,120 people of Chinese descent in Greater St. Louis.
In 2004, unofficial estimates ranged from 15,000 to 20,000, according to Huping Ling, author of Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community. She said that 1% of the population of suburban St. Louis was ethnic Chinese and that the "great majority" of the ethnic Chinese in the area lived in the suburbs, particularly those west and south of St. Louis.

Institutions

Chinese Americans founded Chinese-language schools and Chinese churches and community organizations. As of 2004, there were more than 40 Chinese community organizations in the area. Organization of Chinese Americans has an area chapter, OCA St. Louis, founded in 1973. Other organizations include the St. Louis Overseas Chinese Educational Activity Center, also called the Chinese Cultural Center, the St. Louis Taiwanese Association, the Chinese Liberty Assembly, and the St. Louis Chinese Jaycees.

Cuisine

The destruction of Hop Alley closed many restaurants, some of which reopened elsewhere in the area.
As of 2004, the St. Louis area had more than 300 Chinese restaurants.
As of 2012, the city retained a number of chop suey restaurants, largely in low-income neighborhoods and African-American communities in the northern part of the city. 22 used the words "chop suey" in their names. Such restaurants had been popular in many parts of the country from the early 20th century, but had declined in the West Coast and the East Coast with new Chinese immigration and with more diverse types of food available. But the cuisine retained prominence in the American Midwest, where there was less Chinese immigration.

Education

As of 2016, there were four Chinese-language schools in the St. Louis area:
As well, St. Louis University High School has Chinese-language programs and is home to a Confucius classroom that is part of Webster University's Confucius Institute.

Media

As of 2004, there were two weekly Chinese language newspapers:

Religion

As of 2004, there were around 12 Chinese religious institutions.
Christian churches include the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church of Greater St. Louis in Augusta, and the St. Louis Falun Dafa. The Fo Guang Shan St. Louis Buddhist Center is in Bridgeton.

Recreation

The Chinese Culture Days are annually held at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The Chinese community organizations sponsor this event, cultural gatherings, and other Chinese-American events.

Notable residents