Exploring California's Most Authentic Chinese Town: Locke

 

      Few places can claim a fascinating history like the tiny community of Locke, located about 30 miles south of Sacramento in the Sacramento Delta region.

   Founded in 1915, Locke is the only town in the U.S. built exclusively by the Chinese for Chinese. The community was established after Chinese residents in the nearby town of Walnut Grove lost their homes in a fire.

   A group of Chinese merchants led by a man named Lee Bing approached landowner George Locke to construct a settlement on his property. Locke, who had leased a few acres to other Chinese in 1912, agreed to lease ten to twelve acres of his pear orchard to the merchants (at that time Chinese could not legally own land in California).

   Chinese architects laid out a town with some 60 buildings, which was built over the next five years. It was originally called Lockeport, which was later shortened to Locke.

   During the 1920s and 30s, Locke thrived as a kind of wide-open town that was popular with local farm workers attracted by its gambling halls, saloons, opium dens and brothels as well as its more legitimate businesses like grocery stores, boarding houses, bakeries, herb shops and fish markets.

   By the 1940s, Locke reached its peak with an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 residents. Since then, the town has gradually faded as many of the younger Chinese began to move away. Today, about 100 people still live in Locke, although Chinese-Americans are no longer the majority.

   The streets of Locke are fascinating to explore. The aged wooden buildings are packed closely together with tiny passageways leading to hidden doorways. Be sure to check out the Locke Boarding House Museum, a unit of the California State Park system, which offers historical displays about the community.

   Other buildings worth exploring include the Locke Chinese School, built in 1915, was originally constructed by members of the Kao Ming Tong or Chinese Nationalist Party founded by Dr. Sun Yet Sen. Between 1926 and 1940, it was used as a school to teach the Chinese language to local children.

   From the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, it again served as a Chinese language, arts and culture school. Today, it is a museum open Friday (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) as well as Saturday and Sunday (11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). For more information about the school go to: http://www.locke-foundation.org/locke-museums/locke-chinese-school-museum/.

   In 1970, the entire town of Locke was added to the National Register of Historic Places and efforts have continued to find ways to preserve the unique but aging community.

   Perhaps ironically, the most popular restaurant in this Chinese town is Al's Place (or, as locals affectionately call it, "Al the Wop's"), which does not serve Chinese food. This cult restaurant is perhaps Locke's best-known establishment and serves up legendary steak sandwiches for lunch and steak and pasta dinners at night.

   The restaurant was Locke's first non-Chinese business and was founded by Al Adami, a local bootlegger who acquired the building in 1934. The place is reminiscent of many of Nevada's Basque restaurants in that customers are served several courses family-style at long communal tables and rarely go away hungry.

   For more information about Locke, go to: https://www.nps.gov/places/locke-historic-district.htm or https://sacramentovalley.org/stories/the-delta-town-of-locke-a-hidden-historic-gem/.

The Stokes' Family's Unusual Summer Castle

   One of the oddest structures in rural Nevada is the stone tower near Austin known as Stokes Castle. Built of native rock and wood, the tower is a three-story square-shaped building overlooking the Reese River Valley that was erected by wealthy businessman Anson Phelps Stokes for his son, John Graham Phelps Stokes (often referred to as J.G. Phelps Stokes), who was managing his mining and railroad operations in the area.

   The elder Stokes, part of the wealth Dodge Phelps clan, had made a fortune as an East Coast merchant and in banking, land development, mining and railroads. During that time, informally known as the Gilded Age, the Stokes family was part of the “Four Hundred,” a list of the cream of New York society.

   Befitting their wealth, the family owned a compound of three mansions (lived in by different family members) on Madison Avenue and 37th Street in Manhattan. The three brownstones were later purchased by banker J.P. Morgan.

   Anson Stokes first invested in Central Nevada with his acquisition of the unbuilt Nevada Central Railroad (NCRR) in 1879. Under Stokes guidance, the railroad, which ran between Battle Mountain and Austin, was completed in 1880.

   During the next few years, Anson Stokes and his son, J.G. Phelps Stokes invested heavily in mining properties in Austin and other parts of the state.

   Unfortunately for the NCRR, Austin’s silver production began to decline within a few years after the railroad line opened. By 1887, most the mines closed, although there were periodic revivals in later years.

   Despite the declining profitability of the NCRR, J.G. Phelps Stokes assumed the role of president of the railroad in 1898.

   A year earlier was when Anson Stokes decided to build the structure that would be known as Stokes Castle. In April 1897, work began on grading a 2,900-foot-long road to the site of the castle, on a flat part of the mountain overlooking the Reese River Valley.

   According to records, work on the building started in late April and completed in mid-June. The structure, originally only two-stories, was built using some 800-tons of locally-quarried granite and mortar.

   Construction was largely done by a local master stonemason named John C. Worley, who also worked on St. George’s Episcopal Church in Austin (completed in 1878) and the main house of the O’Toole Ranch in the Reese River Valley (in about 1904).

   Upon visiting the castle for the first time in late June 1897, Anson Stokes decided to add a third story to the structure, which was completed shortly after. Each story in the castle was a single room with a fireplace and small windows.

   Wooden balconies supported by iron railroad supports were constructed on the second and third floors and an awning was stretched over the roof. Entry was via a single doorway on the first floor.

   Stokes, who designed the tower himself, based it on a painting of a tower in the Roman Campagna (the countryside around Rome) that hung in the library of his New York home.

   By all accounts, Anson Stokes built the castle as a summer home for his son to use when visiting the area. J.G. Phelps Stokes and a handful of his friends apparently only stayed at the castle on a handful of occasions in late 1897 and 1898.

   Unfortunately for the Stokes family, in 1898, they discovered that one of their Nevada business associates had embezzled $300,000 from them, which caused them to sell off their Austin mining properties including the castle.

   From the turn of the century until the 1950s, the castle was largely neglected. In the late 1950s, apparently a Las Vegas promoter attempted to purchase the structure to move it to Las Vegas but those plans were foiled when a prominent local rancher/political figure, Molly Flagg Knudtsen (she was the first female member of the University of Nevada Board of Regents) purchased it so it would remain in place and be preserved.

   In 2003, Stokes Castle was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently owned and maintained by an Austin-area resident. While the tower itself is fenced-off, visitors today can still visit to admire the workmanship and enjoy the fantastic views.

   For more information about Stokes Castle, go to: https://travelnevada.com/historical-interests/stokes-castle/.

The Amargosa Valley Sand Dunes are a World of Their Own

   It’s easy to see why the Amargosa Dunes might seem like they’re located at the end of the world. Lying about 100 miles north of Las Vegas, the barren sandy mound of sand, which is more than a mile and a half long, appears at first glance to be almost devoid of life.

   But, like many places in Nevada, that initial impression doesn’t reveal the whole story.

   The Amargosa Dunes, in fact, are one of Nevada’s most unique ecosystems. The area, also known as Big Dune, rises to more than 300 feet at its highest point. And, like Sand Mountain near Fallon and Crescent Dunes near Tonopah, Big Dune “sings.”

   Scientists believe there are only about 30 dunes in the world that emit sound—and Nevada has three such locations. The noise, which some have compared to the low rumbling of an aircraft engine, is produced when the grains rub against each other, usually when cascading down the dune or in response to wind (it can also manifest as a loud booming noise).

   Big Dune is also home to four rare species of beetles, including the Giuliani’s Big Dune Scarab Beetle, the Large Aegialian Scarab Beetle, the Rulien’s Miloderes Weevil and the Big Dune Aphodius Scarab Beetle. To survive, the beetles rely on sand (which they burrow into) and native vegetation, which includes creosote bush, sandpaper plant, prickly poppy and astragalus. 

   The entire site, which spreads over about five miles (the sand dunes are consistently migrating) is known as the Amargosa Big Dune Recreation Area and is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

   Big Dune is also considered a sacred place for the Southern Paiute and Numic-speaking people that lived in the Mojave Desert, and is the subject of several of their legends.

   The origins of Big Dune can be traced to the presence of the Amargosa River in the region (which actually flows underground and under the dune today). Wind would blow excess small rock particles from a bend in the river, which over a great amount of time began to form into a mound.

   Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have been in the region for more than 10,000 years. The first non-native visitors to reach the valley most likely occurred in the 1830s, when, according to historian Richard Lingenfelter, eastern California horse thieves used it as a shortcut to link to the Old Spanish Trail.

   During the mid-to-late 1900s, the Amargosa area was largely a place traveled through by wagon trains (including an infamous 1849 party that named nearby Death Valley), prospectors, and surveying teams.

   During the late 19th century, Amargosa was largely the domain of small cattle operations (particularly in the Ash Meadows area). The first nearby settlements began to appear in the early 20th century following the completion of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad.

   More recently, Big Dune has become a popular recreation site for off-road vehicles. Because of the presence of the rare beetle species, drivers are encouraged to stick to established routes.

   Big Dune lies at the northern part of Amargosa Valley, about 10 miles south of Beatty. Turn south at the Amargosa Farm sign and continue for about 2.5 miles. There is a parking turnout here where you can park and avoid getting stuck in the sand. Bring water and food (and sunscreen!) because the area has no services in the immediate area.

   For more information, go to: www.blm.gov/visit/big-dune-0 or https://travelnevada.com/off-roading/amargosa-big-dune/.