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/.
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