Ah Louis
| Ah Louis Store | |
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Ah Louis Store
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| Location | 800 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California |
| Coordinates | 35°16′54″N 120°39′51″W / 35.281533°N 120.664167°WCoordinates: 35°16′54″N 120°39′51″W / 35.281533°N 120.664167°W |
| Built | 1885 |
| Governing body | Private |
| Designated | March 26, 2008 |
| Reference no. | 08000203 |
| Designated | 1965 |
| Reference no. | 802 |
 Location of Ah Louis Store in California
Location of Ah Louis Store in California
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On Wong (Chinese: 黃安; pinyin: Huáng Ān; 1840 – December 16, 1936), more commonly known as Ah Louis, was a Chinese American banker, labor contractor, farmer, and shopkeeper in San Luis Obispo, California, during the late 19th and early 20th century. His Ah Louis Store building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ah Louis was a central figure in the development of the Central Coast of California, serving as an organizer of Chinese laborers during the construction of the Pacific Coast Railway's Avila—Port Harford spur and the tunnels through Cuesta Grade over the Santa Lucia Range.
Ah Louis traveled from his home in Guangdong Province, (today's) Greater Taishan Region, China, and arrived in California between 1856 and 1861 in order to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush. Unsuccessful at mining, he became a laborer working in Corvallis, Oregon and points further south.
Ah eventually settled in San Luis Obispo, California in 1870, and was working as a cook in a hotel there in 1871. Soon he began to organize work-crews to help construct the Pacific Coast Railroad, delivering 160 Chinese Americans from San Francisco by schooner. In 1877, Ah was awarded two large road construction contracts, including a road from Paso Robles, California to Cambria, California (now the westernmost portion of State Route 46) and the first stages of a road connecting San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles, California (now referred to as Cuesta Grade, a portion of which is still drivable and is labeled off the freeway as "Old Stagecoach Road" and a portion of U.S. Route 101). In 1884, Ah received the contract to construct the four Cuesta Grade tunnels for the Southern Pacific Railroad, requiring the provision of 2,000 laborers and taking ten years to complete.
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