Finding Asian American History in Washington, DC
Tour Description
These highlighted sites are among those researched for DC’s first Asian American Historical Context Statement, a project produced by the 1882 Foundation for the DC Historic Preservation Office and the DC Preservation League through funding from the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Fund.
These sites provide only a small glimpse into the range of places where Asian Americans have lived, gathered, and built community in the city for more than a century—against the backdrop of turbulent geopolitical shifts, as well as over half a century of US immigration policy that excluded Asians.
For more information on Asian American history in DC, see the "Further Resources" stop of this tour.
Locations for Tour
Finding Asian American History: Union Market Shops
Union Market, previously Florida Market, has been supplying food products to DC residents since 1931. From the 1970s to the 1990s, a majority of the market was run by Asian immigrants who also started Asian food and import businesses, such as tofu…
Finding Asian American History: The Chinese Lantern Restaurant
The Chinese Lantern restaurant was opened near Union Station in 1928 by Sam J. Chan. Originally located at 7 F Street, the restaurant moved across F Street to 14 F Street NW around 1946. During the mid-1900s, the Chinese Lantern was often frequented…
Finding Asian American History: Manila House
Manila House was purchased by the Visayan Circle in 1937. It served as a boarding house and gathering place for cab drivers, students, writers, musicians, soldiers, and Philippine government workers until the early 1960s. American Book Award…
Finding Asian American History: American Fazl Mosque
The American Fazl Mosque was established by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 1950. A converted house, the building was selected and acquired through the assistance of Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan (1893-1985), a lawyer and diplomat, who was Pakistan's…
Finding Asian American History: Shogo Myaida (Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens)
This Japanese-style garden is part of the eclectic landscape surrounding the former residence of Marjorie Merriweather Post. The garden, redesigned by Shogo Myaida (1897-1988) in the 1950s, is a hybrid landscape consisting of American and Japanese…
Finding Asian American History: American University Cherry Trees
In 1943, Syngman Rhee, who would later become the first president of South Korea after World War II, worked with American University president Paul F. Douglass, to plant Korean cherry trees on the school's grounds in protest to Japan’s colonization…
Finding Asian American History: Washon Ye Headstone
Washon Ye, was reportedly the first Korean to be born in the US (October 12, 1890). The son of Ye Cha Yun (이채연), the first minister to the Korean Legation in DC, Washon was named for his birth city and christened at the Church of the Covenant. He…
Finding Asian American History: Korean Commission at the Continental Trust Building
The Korean Commission office was located on the ninth floor of the Continental Trust Building from 1919 into the mid-1920s. It was established by Syngman Rhee to coordinate fundraising and to lobby for US political support for Korean independence…
Finding Asian American History: Korean Church in Washington (Foundry Methodist Church)
The Korean Church in Washington, the first such Christian congregation in DC, met weekly in Foundry's Ball Memorial Chapel for 27 years. Established in 1951 with several dozen congregants (most of them Presbyterian), it established a Korean-language…
Finding Asian American History: Old Korean Legation Museum
A Korean Legation was organized in DC in the 1880s after Korea and the US established diplomatic relations. Originally located on O Street NW, the Legation was based in this Logan Circle building from 1889 until Japan annexed Korea in 1910. Today, it…
Finding Asian American History: Range 99 at Congressional Cemetery
From 1896 to 1936, nearly 100 Chinese were buried in this cemetery. They were among the first migrants from China to DC, and their remains were later exhumed according to Chinese traditions and shipped back to China for reburial and essential family…
Finding Asian American History: Chinese Legation
In 1902, the Qing Legation purchased a purpose-built mansion designed by Waddy Butler Wood. It is the oldest standing building commissioned and formerly occupied by a foreign government in DC, as well as the last of 5 buildings that housed the…
Finding Asian American History: Da Hsin Company
Da Hsin Company began operating at this site in the 1980s and provides Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) services in addition to selling homewares, gifts, and dry goods. The TCM counter sells processed TCM ingredients that clients boil into soup.…
On Leong Chinese Merchants Association
The Chinese Merchants Association Building is significant as the long-time home of On Leong Tong, the City’s preeminent Chinese benevolent association. In the early 1930s, when DC’s first Chinatown at Pennsylvania Avenue and Fourth Street NW was…
Finding Asian American History: Wah Luck House
The Wah Luck House was built in 1982, making it one of the oldest affordable housing complexes in Chinatown. It is home to the most densely concentrated group of Chinese residents in DC. The Wah Luck House also serves as a central meeting place for…
Finding Asian American History: Temple of Cun Yum
The Temple of Cun Yum relocated to this building in the late 1990s from its original location on the 4th floor of the former Golden Palace Restaurant on 7th Street NW. The Temple is rooted in Chinese Buddhist practices, and its primary worshippers…
Finding Asian American History: Chinese Community Church
Originally, the CCC met at Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church. Since then, it has relocated several times to support the congregation’s growth, moving to its current location at 500 I Street NW in 2006. The CCC is also home to the Chinatown…
Finding Asian American History: Further Resources
This tour was curated by the 1882 Foundation in collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the University of Maryland Historic Preservation Program.Access their websites here in addition to further resources on…
Tour Postscript
The map contains information and assets adapted from content that has been researched and produced by: Nuria Benitez, Gabi Chu, Ella Hankins, Wei Gan, Ted Gong, Sojin Kim, Grace Dahye Kwon, Christine Han, Keani Lei Lee, Jenn Low, Emma Chunhua Lucier-Keller, Maliha Luqman, Michelle Magalong, Audrey Meigs, Mia Owens, Claudia Vinci, Mengshu Ye, Karen Yee, Jenny YiProject advisors: Harry Chow, Jack Lee, Penny Lee, Samir Meghelli, Phil Nash, Franklin Odo, Julie Park, Tony Sarmiento Richard Wong, Shirley and Walter Woo.
This tour was uploaded to the site and is managed by the DC Preservation League. To contact the organization, email info@dcpreservation.org.