Chinatown, Chicago

Chinatown, Chicago
Neighborhood
Cermak Road including the Chinatown Gate over Wentworth Avenue
Map of Chinatown
Coordinates: 41°51′10″N 87°37′55″W / 41.852861°N 87.631894°W / 41.852861; -87.631894Coordinates: 41°51′10″N 87°37′55″W / 41.852861°N 87.631894°W / 41.852861; -87.631894
Country	United States
City	Chicago
Community areas	Armour Square
First settled	1912
Population
• Estimate (2010)	16,325
ZIP code	60616

Chinatown, Chicago
Wentworth Avenue looking south.
Traditional Chinese	芝加哥華埠
Simplified Chinese	芝加哥华埠
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhījiāgē Huá Bù Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jyjiage Hwabuh Wade–Giles Chih1chia1ke1 Hua2 Pu4 Tongyong Pinyin Jhihjiage Húa Bù Yale Romanization Jrjyake Hwabu IPA [ʈʂɻ̩́tɕjákɤ́ xwǎ pû] Yue: Cantonese IPA [tɕíːkáːkɔ̂ː wȁːfɐ̀u] Jyutping Zi1gaa1go1 Waa4 Fau6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Chi-cha-ko Hôa-bú

The Chinatown neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, is on the South Side (located in the Armour Square community area), centered on Cermak and Wentworth Avenues, and is an example of an American Chinatown, or ethnic-Chinese neighborhood. By the 2000 Census, Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area had 68,021 Chinese. The combined 60616 and 60608 zip codes in Chicago, as of the 2010 Census, were home to 22,380 people of Chinese descent. In addition, as of 2010, the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville IL-IN-WI metro area had 92,712 people of Chinese descent. Chicago is the second oldest settlement of Chinese in America after the Chinese fled persecution in California. The present Chicago Chinatown formed about 1915, after settlers moved steadily south from near the Loop where the first enclaves were established in the 19th century.

Chinatown is sometimes confused with an area on the city's North Side sometimes referred to as "New Chinatown", which is centered on Argyle Street and is somewhat of a misnomer given that it is largely represented by people of Southeast Asian heritage.

Looking to escape the anti-Chinese violence that had broken out on the west coast, the first Chinese arrived in Chicago after 1869 when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed. By the late 1800s, 25% of Chicago's approximately 600 Chinese residents settled along Clark Street between Van Buren and Harrison Streets in Chicago's Loop. In 1889, 16 Chinese-owned businesses were located along the two-block stretch, including eight grocery stores, two butcher shops and a restaurant. In 1912, the Chinese living in this area began moving south to Armour Square. Some historians say this was due to increasing rent prices. Others see more complex causes: discrimination, overcrowding, a high non-Chinese crime rate, and disagreements between the two associations ("tongs") within the community, the Hip Sing Tong and the On Leong Tong. The move to the new South Side Chinatown was led by the On Leong Merchants Association who, in 1912, had a building constructed along Cermak Avenue (then 22nd Street) that could house 15 stores, 30 apartments and the Association's headquarters. While the building's design was typical of the period, it also featured Chinese accents such as tile trim adorned with dragons.