View source for Locke, California

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in California, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name =Locke Historic District
| nrhp_type = nhld
| nocat = yes 
| image = Locke p1080790.jpg
| caption = The main street of Locke, in 2006, has some Chinese shops among habitations.
| location = Bounded on the W by the Sacramento River, on the N by Locke Rd., on the E by Alley St., and on the S by Levee St., Locke, California
| coordinates = {{coord|38|15|2|N|121|30|34|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = California#USA
| built = 1915
| architect = 
| architecture = Woodcutter’s Gothic vernacular similar to other gold rush towns in the region. [HABS 1986]. Five of the approximately 36 remaining buildings have shiplap strake siding, a popular construction material from 1870 to 1910.
| designated_nrhp_type = December 14, 1990<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1080&ResourceType=District |title=Locke Historic District |access-date=2008-02-13 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114222044/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1080&ResourceType=District |archive-date=2007-11-14 }}</ref>
| added = May 06, 1971<ref name=nris/>
| area = {{convert|14|acre}}
| refnum = 71000174<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}

'''Locke''', also known as '''Locke Historic District''',  is an [[Unincorporated area#United States|unincorporated community]] in the [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] of [[California]], United States. The {{convert|14| acre||adj=mid| town}} was first developed between 1893 and 1915 approximately one mile north of the town of [[Walnut Grove, California|Walnut Grove]] in [[Sacramento County, California|Sacramento County]].

Locke is a primarily agricultural community near [[California State Route 160|State Route 160]], south of [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]]. It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1971 and was designated a [[National Historic Landmark|National Historic Landmark District]] in 1990 as a unique example of a historic [[Chinese Americans|Chinese American]] rural community.<ref name="nhlsum" /> The population as of 2021 was estimated to be about 100, with Chinese Americans no longer forming the majority.<ref>Sze, Kristen. [https://abc7news.com/locke-chinese-americans-aapi-asian/10688873/ Road trip to Locke: Uncovering Chinese American history in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta], [[KGO-TV]], 24 May 2021.</ref>

The village of Lockeport (shortened to "Locke" in 1920) began where the Sacramento Valley Railway and Union Pacific Railroads merged at the southwest corner of the {{convert|490| acre||adj=mid| swampland parcel}} deeded on July 6, 1883, to founder, George W. Locke, and his mercantile business partner, Samuel P. Lavenson. Both men were lured in their youth by the [[California Gold Rush]].

After a fire destroyed the Chinatown of nearby Walnut Grove in 1915, many [[China|Chinese]] immigrants from the town resettled in and further developed Locke. Chinese-owned businesses were established, along with a Chinese language school. The town continued to thrive as a Chinese American agricultural community until after [[World War II]], when younger residents begin leaving the town for better educational and employment opportunities in urban centers.<ref name="NPS">[https://www.nps.gov/places/locke-historic-district.htm Locke Historic-District, CA], ''[[National Park Service]]''</ref>

==History==
[[File:Locke bowing building.jpg|thumb|Building sagging with age]]
[[File:Locke alleyway.jpg|thumb|Boardwalk with plenty of greenery between buildings]]
[[File:Locke memorial.jpg|thumb|Memorial in Locke to Chinese immigrants and laborers]]

The delta swampland on which Locke was built on was home to Native American [[Miwok]] and [[Maidu]] tribes for hundreds of years. Tribal burial grounds exist on the Locke parcel.

Legislation such as the Swampland Reclamation Act of 1861 was enacted in California to put perceived empty and wasted lands to use and stabilization.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = The Great Thirst: Californians and Water- A History|last = Hundley|first = Norris|publisher = University of California Press|year = 2001|location = Berkeley}}</ref> Much of this involved draining the Delta wetlands and building levees to regulate flood control in places like Locke.<ref name=":0" /> Mainly poor Chinese immigrants were hired to do this backbreaking reclamation work.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|title = One Day, One Dollar: Locke, California, and the Chinese Farming Experience in the Sacramento Delta|last = Leung|first = Peter|publisher = Chinese/Chinese American History Project|year = 1984|location = El Cerrito, California}}</ref>  Contracted labor was often paid the equivalent of less than one dollar a day per worker. They built hundreds of miles of [[levee]]s in waist deep water where [[malaria]] still rampaged, reclaiming a total {{convert|88,000| acres}}.<ref name=":14"/>

In 1912, three Chinese merchants, two from the nearby town of Vorden and one from Walnut Grove, contracted tradesmen to construct three buildings. Chan Tin Sin built the first building.  It was a combination dry goods store and beer saloon. Yuen Lai Sing built a gambling hall. Owyang Wing Cheong built the Lockeport Hotel & Restaurant.<ref>Dedicatory plaque on the first building, Locke, California, Sacramento County Historical Society, August 2, 1970.</ref><ref>"A History of Chinese Americans in California: Historic Sites, Locke" in ''Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California'' (California Office of Historical Preservation, December 1988).</ref>

Following that early construction the Canton Hotel was built, along with several other buildings. A total of seven structures eventually formed the hamlet of Lockeport.  Though some merchants hoped to provide a destination for riverboat and train passengers, the idea never worked due to the discrimination against Chinese during those times.<ref name="autogenerated1">Oral interviews by Roberta (Bobbie) Owyang-Lee, daughter of Owyang Wing Cheong.</ref>  One of the homes built in the first phase of construction provided shelter for Chan Tin Sin's cousin Chan Chor Get and his family from the discriminatory acts and violence in San Francisco Chinatown.<ref>Oral interview by Jane Chan-Chung, daughter of Chan Chor Get.</ref>

On October 7, 1915,<ref>Testimony of Walnut Grove and Locke merchant Owyang Tin Git, Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files, ca. 1882 - ca. 1960, Record Group 85: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004, National Archives & Records Administration, Washington, DC.</ref> the Chinatown of nearby [[Walnut Grove, California|Walnut Grove]] was destroyed by an accidental fire. Afterwards, the Main Street section of Locke was established and settled by a group of Chinese immigrants<ref>{{Cite news |last=Freedman |first=Georgia |date=2021-03-31 |title=Seeking out Northern California's historic Chinatowns |url=https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Northern-California-historic-Chinatowns-16064369.php |access-date=2023-07-05 |work=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref> from what is now modern day [[Zhongshan]] in southern China's [[Guangdong]] province, headed by Lee Bing, a Chinese American businessman. Whereas [[Taishanese]]-speaking Chinese settlers remained in Walnut Grove after the fire to rebuild, the [[Cantonese]]-speaking Zhongshan Chinese settlers migrated to Locke to create a town of their own. The land was leased from George Locke as California law at the time forbade the selling of farmland to Asian immigrants by the [[California Alien Land Law of 1913]].<ref name="NPS" />

Due to its relatively large Chinese population at the time, the Chinese [[Kuomintang]] political party once had a local chapter in Locke. As the town grew, so did its reputation as a destination for illicit entertainment, gaining the nickname "California's [[Monte Carlo Casino|Monte Carlo]]". At one point, it had five gambling halls, five brothels, speakeasies and opium dens.<ref>{{cite news |last=Magagninismagagnini |first=Stephen |url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article20472876.html |title=Locke, once 'Monte Carlo of the State,' celebrates 100th birthday |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee  |date=2015-05-07 |access-date=2016-07-03}}</ref>

The population of Locke swelled with the growing season and harvest. Most of the reclaimed land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta including Locke was used for cash crops, including asparagus, potato, sweet potatoes, white beans, pears, and apples.<ref name=":14"/> There would be as many as 1000 to 1500 Chinese people living in Locke.  Farmhands shared rooms in the boarding houses.  Chinese residents living in the homes behind Main Street also took in Chinese farm laborers. Chinese immigrants in Locke started patterns in California agriculture that are continued today in the Sacramento-San Joaquin region, including contracted labor, [[Tenant farmer|tenant farming]], [[sharecropping]], and the [[Piece work|piece wage system]].<ref name=":14"/> A community garden existed in the back and there was a special oven to make roast pigs on Sundays.  Chinese communities congregated in solidarity under difficult labor and social conditions fostered by legislation such as the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]], creating community gardens that maintained cultural relevancy in the form of growing Chinese cabbage, snow peas, leafy vegetables, winter melon, and tomatoes.<ref name=":14"/> Baptist missionary Dr. Charles Shepherd would bring in his Chungmei home boys for the pear harvest at the end of July. Life in Locke had a great deal of accord. The Chinese mothers took care of each other's children when another mother had to go to work at the cannery across the River Road next to the riverboat docks of the Sacramento River.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

During the 1940s and 1950s, many of Locke's Chinese Americans, many of whom received better education, began joining the American mainstream by moving out of rural Locke and into the burgeoning [[suburb]]s of the major cities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Locke Historic District |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/locke-historic-district.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=19 June 2020 |date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

The Locke Historic District is bounded on the west by the [[Sacramento River]], on the north by Locke Rd., on the east by Alley St., and on the south by Levee St. The district was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on May 6, 1971.<ref name="nris"/>

A [[Hong Kong]]-based developer purchased the town in 1977 from the Locke Heirs and sold it in 2002 to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bartell |first=John |date=May 14, 2021 |title='We are a living community, as well as a national historic site.' {{!}} The cultural significance of Locke, California |url=https://www.abc10.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/backroads/first-california-town-built-by-chinese-immigrants/103-c72b3f62-62db-4661-80fc-c86a6b4ede2f |access-date=2023-07-05 |work=ABC10 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2004, the agency finally allowed the sale of land to those who had been living on it for many years. There were plans to convert Locke into a housing development and [[tourist attraction]]. At the north end of Main Street, the restored Locke Boarding House museum (now owned by California State Parks) operates daily, staffed by volunteers. The Town of Locke celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2015, with a large gathering on May 9.

On July 3, 2016, a fire erupted on the second floor of the Locke Country Store on Main Street, which contained two apartments. The fire resulted in the complete destruction of the second floor of the building and a building behind the store. There were no injuries.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kalb |first1=Loretta |last2=Hice |first2=Jessica |url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article87644402.html |title=Fire, screams, then a ladder to the rescue in Locke |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |date=2015-07-04 |access-date=2016-07-31}}</ref>

The Locke Historic District was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] on December 14, 1990.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=71000174}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Locke / Locke Historic District|date=June 21, 1990 |format=PDF |author=James H. Charleton |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2009-06-22}} (includes map) and {{NHLS url|id=71000174|title=''Accompanying  photos, exterior and interior, from 19.''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(1.14&nbsp;MB)}}</ref>

==Politics==
In the [[California State Legislature|state legislature]], Locke is in {{Representative|casd|3|fmt=sdistrict}}, and in {{Representative|caad|9|fmt=adistrict}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Find Your California Representatives |url=https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/ |access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref>

Federally, Locke is in {{Representative|cacd|7|fmt=district}}.<ref>{{Cite GovTrack|CA|7|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref>

==Post office==
Locke had its own [[ZIP Code]] of 95649, but it was discontinued shortly after the post office bearing that code closed on August 2, 1963. Since then, Locke uses Walnut Grove's ZIP code of 95690, and the community is inside [[Area codes 916 and 279|area code 916]].

==In popular culture==
Locke is the subject of the following books:
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150416034514/http://www.bittermelonbook.com/ Bitter Melon: Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town]'' by Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow (Nine Mile Press). Winner of the Commonwealth Club's 57th Annual Book Award, Silver Medal 
*''[https://www.amazon.com/One-Day-Dollar-California-Experience/dp/B0006EJ04C One Day, One Dollar: Locke, California, and the Chinese Farming Experience in the Sacramento Delta]'' by Peter C. Y Leung.
*''[http://www.waterghosts.com Water Ghosts (a novel)]'' by [[Shawna Yang Ryan]].

Locke has been featured in the following film and television series:
*''[[Bird (1988 film)|Bird]]'' (1988) - Locke doubled for Kansas City in Clint Eastwood's film about Charlie Parker.<ref name="CBS13">{{cite news |title=Best Movies Set in the Sacramento Area |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/best-movies-set-in-the-sacramento-area/ |publisher=CBS News 13 Sacramento |date=15 November 2010}}</ref>
*''[[Life (1999 film)|Life]]'' (1999) - Locke doubled for the Mississippi Delta in the Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence buddy comedy.<ref name="CBS13"/>
*''[[Take Out with Lisa Ling|Take Out with Lisa Ling S1 E2]]'' (2022) - Lisa Ling visited the town in this series about Asian American cuisine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Egel |first1=Benjy |title=Look out for 'Take Out': Sacramento's Lisa Ling showcases cultural legacy of Asian dining |url=https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/article257477653.html |publisher=Sacramento Bee |date=21 January 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Locke, California}}
* [http://www.locketown.com Locke, California] - Official site with in-depth history
* [https://archive.today/20121214011150/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/locke/locke.htm Locke and Walnut Grove: Havens for Early Asian Immigrants in California] Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans from the National Park Service
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704104743/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/5views/5views3h52.htm Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California]
* [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/80153910 Nancy Wey papers, 1850-1994]
* [https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1991/01/10/preserving-the-past-californias-gold-207/ PBS video Preserving the Past] Episode of a Public Broadcasting show about Locke California as it was in 1991.
*Pacific Innovative Projects Studio video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltx5-POst_Q Letters to Locke Project] for PACS class Meeting in the Melting Pot.

{{Sacramento County, California}}
{{Greater Sacramento}}
{{NRHP in Sacramento County, California}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{US Chinatowns}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Chinese-American history]]
[[Category:Chinese-American culture in California]]
[[Category:Chinatowns in California]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Sacramento County, California]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in the Sacramento metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1915]]
[[Category:1915 establishments in California]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in California]]
[[Category:Carpenter Gothic architecture in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento County, California]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmark Districts]]