Locke, Once a Bustling Chinese Community ...

Note: This was one of those stories that I still think about -- I spent part of day in this place, and will always remember it.

By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Times
May 6, 2002

LOCKE -- Plans are moving forward to resurrect the downtown ghosts of this ramshackle river town, whose paint and memories are fading fast.

Once a bustling Chinese community of 1,500, Locke struggles to survive today with about 70 residents. Only a dozen are Chinese.

Many of the handsome, timber-dry buildings that crowd Main Street are splintered and sagging relics to better days.

But townsfolk Saturday will celebrate a land transfer to a Sacramento County agency that promises to preserve the Delta town, whose cultural history is too rich to ignore.

"Now, I'm very happy. I think we're finally on the right track," said 84-year-old Ping Lee, whose father co-founded Locke in 1915. "In other words, my dream came true."

Historic Locke, about 30 miles south of Sacramento, is the last rural community built and occupied exclusively by the Chinese.

Exclusionary racial laws, however, prohibited Chinese settlers from owning the land on which their rickety buildings sat.

So the folks who created Locke on rented property watched helplessly as time chewed holes in their clapboard structures. Many frustrated residents moved away.

"I hardly carry any Chinese produce because there are so few Chinese here," said Dustin Marr, who runs Yuen Chong & Co. Grocery and Meat Market on Main Street.

"That part of our history here is almost gone."

In recent years, a badly decaying sewer system that residents could not afford to repair threatened to force the three-block town into extinction.

But in July 2000, a landmark deal was struck with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, which salvaged Locke's future.

In February, the agency completed its $250,000 purchase of the land under town, ending a painstaking process that had kept Locke in limbo.

In doing so, the agency is free to move ahead with plans to subdivide Locke's 10-acre parcel into individual lots.

The arrangement gives the owners of the 50 wooden buildings a chance to finally become landowners, allowing them to apply for fix-up grants that could pave the way toward preservation and economic recovery.

"Maybe this is the time to preserve it," said Marr, standing alone in his empty market, listening to a scratchy radio.
"If we preserve it and acknowledge the contributions of our early settlers, that's fine — but as far as Chinese people coming back, I don't know."

While it remains unknown what changes lie ahead, county officials have the difficult task of trying to preserve Locke's rich history and unique character.

Immediate plans include starting construction on the new sewer system, a $1 million job expected to begin this summer.

In addition, the agency hopes to draft and submit a preservation plan to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors by the end of the year.

"People in Locke have practical day-to-day concerns about how they'll be allowed to live their lives," said Stephen Young, the housing agency's director of community development.

"And there are some part of them who would prefer that we subdivide the land, fix the sewer and leave them alone … But we have larger public policy goals that we're trying to address."

The challenges ahead, Young said, include forming a politically balanced nonprofit group that would serve as a town manager.
"We realize that there is a lot of concern. We don't want to overdo it," said Clarence Chu, property manager for Locke Property Development Inc., which sold the land to the county.

"We don't want to change into a theme park or a San Francisco Chinatown."

Chu, who owns nine buildings in Locke, envisions reviving Main Street, creating a sort of historical tribute to the Chinese immigrants who helped shape the Delta.

Chinese settlers descended on the Delta in large numbers during the Gold Rush, often cramming together in crowded ghettos.

Clusters of small villages sprang up along the river channels, including Rio Vista, Walnut Grove and Isleton. While many settlements were eventually folded into suburban sprawl, Locke survived.

The town grew rapidly after a fire destroyed the Chinese section of Walnut Grove in 1915.

In its heyday, Locke boasted nine grocery stores, six restaurants, a theater, a hotel, a flour mill, gambling halls and bordellos.
It's been on a steady decline for decades, as the old-timers died off and their offspring moved away.

"When I came here in 1949, there were Chinese children running all around, and there was a Chinese school," longtime resident Connie King said. "There were New Year celebrations, excitement. There's nothing now."

Indeed, Locke's assortment of peeling buildings and boarded-up windows gives it the look and feel of a ghost town.

On a recent day, the only sound came from a few chirping birds and an occasional hammer blow, as workers repaired several dilapidated storefronts.

A painter stood on a ladder, putting the finishing touches to the front door of the River Road Gallery.

Nearby, a few tourists wandered into Al the Wop's restaurant, the first non-Chinese business when it opened in 1934.

While Locke grapples with its future, Chu is excited about the potential for a town renaissance.

"A lot of people come here and see that it's small and rundown, but they neglect the history here," he said.

"There's a lot of pride. We want to gather information for the public, saying 'Don't feel sorry for this town — you should be very proud of it.' These are positives we want to promote in a museum."

Others are skeptical about the outside influences that could strip Locke of its quirky nature and independent spirit.

One tiny grocery had this handwritten note plastered to its front door: "Open some days about 10 or 11; occasionally as early as 9 but some days as late as 12 or 1."