Peter Romaskieiwcz

Dedicated to Philip Choy (1926-2017)

About this Map and Urban Chinese Temples

This map locates many of the Chinese temples built in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake and fire. Known generically as miao 廟 (or miu in Cantonese), meaning temple or shrine hall, most of the non-Chinese American public referred to these structures as “joss houses” in the nineteenth century. A principle function of these temples, from which their American name derived, was to house Chinese religious icons, commonly called “joss.” Rarely, however, did urban temples occupy a whole building; temples were more typically shrine halls located on the top floor of a multi-story structure. Moreover, these temples were not operated by religious institutions, but were owned and operated by various community organizations. A handful seem to have been privately owned. Often the largest temples were operated by different district associations (huiguan 會館), while many other temples were run by secret fraternal organizations (tang 堂) or various associations organized around clan lineages or trades. Many temples, especially privately owned ones, enshrined numerous icons that could be worshiped for an array of reasons, but sometimes a temple was dedicated to a single figure who functioned like the patron deity of the association or guild. This icon was placed in the central altar of the main shrine hall. In the case of larger district association buildings, the lower floors were typically used for non-religious functions, such as meeting rooms, short-term lodging, or other work spaces necessary for the operation of the organization.

The base map used here is the 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. This is followed by brief commentary and related imagery showing the exterior and interior of selected temples.

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*May 2025 Update: Significant revisions to map and commentary. I’ve archived the older post here.

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Map of Temples in San Francisco’s Chinatown: 1850s-1906

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Notes:
I’ve arranged temples and shrines according to type, following the classifications of Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson (2022). The two locations in the key numbered with an “X” fall outside the range of this map: the Sze Yup / Kong Chow building was at 512 Pine Street (Pine runs parallel to California Street) and Ah Ching’s Tin How Temple was on one of the corners where Post Street crosses Mason Street. Please note, this map is syncretic, not all of the temples and shrines existed at the same time and many moved to different locations around Chinatown (noted by I, II, etc.), sometimes taking up residence in older temple buildings.

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Comparison of 1887 Sanborn Map and 1885 Board of Supervisors’ Map

For a brief introduction to the 1885 Board of Supervisor’ Map, see Susan Schulten’s Mapping Vice in San Francisco.

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Highlighted History

Some of oldest temples in Chinatown are thought to be the Tin How Temple [#14] and the Kong Chow temple [#X1], both often claimed to have been built in the early 1850s, but this is not without some dispute. The earliest media report of a Chinese temple in San Francisco – characterized variously as a heathen, pagan, and idol temple in newspaper accounts – appears in fall 1851, but the temple’s identity and affiliation remains unknown. The earliest identifiable temple is the Yeong Wo Association building, built on the southwestern slope of Telegraph Hill in fall 1852. Both of these predate the Sze Yup Association temple, sometimes mistakenly considered the first Buddhist temple in the United States, which was constructed on a corner lot on Pine Street and Kearny Street in 1853 [see #X1 below]. By the 1880s, Waverly Place, the two-block road between Sacramento Street and Washington Street, was known among the Chinese as Tin How Temple Street (Tianhou miao jie 天后廟街) and became the home to the greatest density of Chinese temples before the 1906 earthquake.

While the Tin How and Kong Chow temples are today considered among the most famous in Chinatown, both being rebuilt after the earthquake and fire, an examination of historical media coverage, travel accounts, and visual portrayals of San Francisco’s Chinese religious heritage reveals a for more complex historical picture. As Chinatown grew and developed through the nineteenth century, different temples garnered attention at different times, some eventually falling into obscurity after a period of relative fame. One of the first temples to attract media attention was the opening of the Sze Yup Association temple in 1853 [#X1], only later to become the legal property of the Kong Chow Association in the mid-1860s. The next to receive substantial attention was the Ning Yung Temple in 1864 [#34], in part due to the description of the temple’s opening by an early-career Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twain. Through the 1860s this was considered the primary “joss house” for tourists to visit, located in relative proximity to the new Globe Hotel on Dupont and Jackson. In the following decade significant media and tourist guidebook attention was directed towards the privately owned Eastern Glory Temple [#24] in 1871 on St. Louis Alley and then towards the new and ornately decorated Hop Wo Temple on Clay Street after 1874 [#10]. When the Yeong Wo moved from their old building on Brooklyn Place [#2] to their new site on Stockton [#6] in 1887, they also began attracting more outside visitors and curious onlookers, in part due to the festive parades held in honor of their main icon. Lastly, when the Ning Yung moved to their new temple on Waverly [#8] in 1891 in the heart of Chinatown, they were considered the most opulent and worthy of tourist visitation. After rebuilding and reopening in 1911, the Tin How temple was seen as a reminder of old Chinatown, especially as many of the previous temples and shrines halls were never rebuilt.

Limiting ourselves to the temples listed here where a main icon can be identified, the semi-historical figure Guandi 關帝 was the most common [#8/#34, #10, #27, #X1, and all secret societies). Two, or possibly three, temples focused devotion to the Empress of Heaven (i.e. Tianhou 天后), also known as the goddess Mazu 媽祖 [#14, #30, #X2], and two temples were dedicated to the popular Buddhist figure Guanyin Bodhisattva [#12, #19]. Guanyin and Tianhou also appeared in a few temples flanking the main icon or were placed in adjacent altars, rooms, or floors [#2, #24, #X2]. Another important figure was the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heavens (Xuantian shangdi 玄天上帝), also known as the Northern Emperor (Beidi 北帝), whose icon traveled with the movement of the Eastern Glory Temple [#24, #16]. Among the numerous fraternal societies that operated temples, the Chee Kong Society [#18] was by considerable margin the most influential.

It is worth noting I have not encountered a valid report or illustration of a Śākyamuni or Amitābha Buddha statue in any pre-1906 Chinese temple in San Francisco. Despite many tourist accounts of seeing “the Buddha” at a Chinatown temple, such accounts can be easily explained as ignorance; most often the object of mis-identification was an icon of Guandi or the Northern Emperor. Some accounts even seem to use the term “buddha” as analogous to “joss” with no more precise meaning than “Chinese idol.” In contrast to the limited nature and function of community organization temples and shrine halls, many of which prominently displayed Guandi, privately owned temples had more freedom to enshrine a wider range of icons, including Buddhist ones. In this regard, the figure of Guanyin seems to have played a central role in the religious life of many early Chinese immigrants, being found in five locations on this map and likely remaining unreported at many others. At least one observer in 1883 claimed Guanyin occupied a “prominent corner of every private home as well as temple.” Images of the Buddha found no such popular support among early Chinese immigrants in San Francisco.

A brief note on dating: When examining secondary research on the history of Chinatown’s temples one will often run into different dates for a particular temple’s founding. On one hand, this is due to a conflation between the formal organization of a district association and the construction of a district association building, two distinct events that may be separated by many years. For example, while the Ning Yung Association organized in 1853, the earliest mention of an association building with shrine hall is 1864, an eleven-year gap. I am interested in the building of Chinese temples, often reported with fanfare in news media, which allows us to focus attention on the reception and influence of Chinese material culture in the United States. On another hand, not only did the 1906 earthquake and fire destroy Chinatown’s religious buildings, but also almost all district association and fraternal society records. Some of the associations or temples claiming to date to the 1850s, for example, are often relying on oral histories. This is valuable data that must be viewed in conjunction with other available historical records. As of this writing, the most detailed information regarding the history of Chinese temples in San Francisco is Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson’s Chinese Traditional Religion and Temples in North America, 1849–1920: California (2022). Some of my observations below supplement their analysis.

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Selected Temples (With Brief Commentary and Selected Imagery)

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1. Lung Kong Association (Longgang gongsuo 龍岡公所)
9 Brooklyn Place / 1887 Sanborn

The two-story Lung Kong building opened in the mid-1880s. San Francisco-based photographer Isaiah West Taber (1830–1912) was able to capture a rare image of the main altar and shrine hall in 1887 (see below). The central icons were five glorified cultural heroes, Liu Bei 劉備 (center), Guan Yu 關羽 (center right), Zhang Fei 張飛 (center left), Zhao Yun 趙雲 (far right), and Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (far left).[For more on Taber’s photograph and it’s continued biography as a postcard, see here]. Taber’s photograph was repurposed for the cover to William Bode’s Lights and shadows of Chinatown in 1896. A simplistic sketch from Edward Wilson Currier (1857–1918) possibly showing the temple’s two-story brick building exterior from 1898 was published in a San Francisco tour guide. It appears Arnold Genthe (1869–1942) may have also taken a photograph looking the opposite way down Brooklyn, just capturing the temple’s lanterns (see both below). All temple records and artifacts were lost in the 1906 earthquake. The Long Kong Association rebuilt after 1906 at a different location and is still in operation today under the name Lung Kong Tin Yee Association.

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2. Yeong Wo Association I (Yanghe huiguan 陽和會館) / Temple of Golden Flower (Jinhua 金花)
4 Brooklyn Place / 1905 Sanborn

This small two-story building on Brooklyn Place was occupied by the Yeong Wo Association headquarters since at least 1884 before moving to its more permanent location down Sacramento Street [#6]. In the late 1880s a private temple took over the building that according to Frederic Masters was, “crowded with images of goddesses, mothers, nurses, and children.” The central icon was Lady Golden Flower (Jinhua niangniang 金花娘娘), a figure known to protect the health of women and children. This figure was flanked by Guanyin and Tianhou. Additionally, along the walls of the temple were arranged eighteen attendant wet nurses (nainiang 奶娘) of Lady Golden Flower. One report in 1883, likely before Golden Flower Temple opened, notes that icons of Golden Flower, holding a child in each of her arms, were placed under the bed of Chinatown’s infants. Altars to Golden Flower were also established in private temples, such as we see in An Ching’s Tin How Temple [#X2] and Eastern Glory Temple on St. Louis [#24]. The 1885 Board of Supervisors’ Map locates a joss house at this location, almost certainly indicating the Yeong Wo temple. The 1887 Sanborn Map identifies no temple at this address, suggesting the map was prepared after the Yeong Wo association moved, but before Golden Flower Temple opened its doors. The Golden Flower Temple was not rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake.

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3. Lord Tam Temple (Tamgong miao 譚公廟)
Oneida Place / 1887 Sanborn

This was a three-story clan association temple for the Tam (Tom) families and was in existence by the late 1880s, but reputed by Frederic Masters to be among the oldest in Chinatown. Located on Oneida Place, the central icon is recorded as Lord Tam (Tamgong 譚公), often considered a patron saint of seafarers – and at least in Chinatown, for theater troupes as well – and closely associated with the minority Hakka ethnic group. Charles Albert Rodgers painted the temple’s entrance in 1901 [viewable here].

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4. Washermen’s Guild Shrine
825 Washington / 1887 Sanborn

There were several washermen’s guilds in Chinatown, but one was known to meet regularly on Oneida Place. One newspaper account from 1870 notes the guild’s joss house was in the rear of a two-story building at 825 Sacramento, accessible by a narrow set of stairs off Oneida Place. Missionary Augustus W. Loomis, who took over the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown in 1859, claimed the washermen’s guild set up altars to Guandi, seeking to secure prosperity for their businesses. According to Chuimei Ho and Bennett Bronson suggest the guild shrine may have moved to 810 Clay by 1887 [#11].

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5. Chinese Merchant’s Exchange Shrine
739 Stockton

Located at 739 Stockton in 1882, the Chinese Merchant’s Exchange was independent from the district associations, but still held considerable power. Local reports note the Exchange building possessed a joss, before which business transactions were sealed. The small shrine depicting a spirit tablet was included as an insert for an illustration published by Harper’s Weekly in 1882 (see below).

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6. Yeong Wo Association II (Yanghe huiguan 陽和會館)
730 Sacramento Street / 1887 Sanborn

The Yeong Wo Association originally had a temple on the southwestern slope of Telegraph Hill by 1852 (exact address remains unknown). An uncharacteristically detailed newspaper report of the time recounts the opening of the shrine hall which included the performance of Chinese opera as part of the festivities and confused by the observer as part of the ritual performance conducted Chinese priests. By the late 1860s the Yeong Wo organization was known to be developing property on Sacramento Street, but seems to have transitioned to a temporary location on Brooklyn Place [#2]. For a time in 1885 the Yeong Wo seems to have also occupied 730 Jackson [#30]. The final move down to Sacramento Street in 1887 – nearly twenty years after the move was initially reported – involved a festive parade for the central icon Houwang 侯王, a semi-historical figure who had become the “patron saint” of the association. Houwang’s annual birthday celebration also involved a raucous parade of the icon through the streets of Chinatown, causing much media attraction up through 1906. Amédéé Joulin (1862–1917), a French-American painter born in San Francisco, reputedly painted the interior of the Yeong Wo temple in 1890. Two newspaper illustrations show the temple decorated for festivals (see below). After the 1906 earthquake the Yeong Wo shrine hall was not replaced.

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8. Ning Yung Association II (Ningyang huiguan 寧陽會館)
35 Waverly Place / 1905 Sanborn

The Ning Yung Association moved from its original location [#34] to Waverly in 1891. Two rather crude newspaper sketches offer a glimpse at the official procession and parade as well as the new altar for the main Ning Yung Association icon, Guandi. Frederic Masters called this building the finest temple in Chinatown in 1892 and visitors reported marveling at its marble stairs and gas lighting. Construction reportedly cast $160,000 with opening festivities lasting ten days and costing an estimated $15,000. Isaiah West Taber took a photo of the three-story building around 1891 (see below). After the 1906 earthquake, the association building was rebuilt, but the shrine hall was not replaced.

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10. Hop Wo Association (Hehe huiguan 合和會館)
751 Clay Street / 1887 Sanborn

The Hop Wo Association formed in 1862 and opened its first headquarters with temple in 1874, occupying a three-story brick building directly across from the southwest corner of Portsmouth Square. The shrine hall, dedicated to Guandi, was on the top floor and outfitted with a reported $30,000 worth of icons, furnishings, and ritual equipment shipped from China. Soon after opening, a touring New York clergyman marveled at the temple’s opulence, claiming he was “entranced in a blaze of glory!” Through the early 1880s tourist guide books continued to recommend seeing the Hop Wo shrine hall, but by 1892 the building had lost its former luster, with Frederic Masters proclaiming it a “dingy-looking place.” Isaiah West Taber took two rare photographs of the shrine hall in the mid-1880s (see one below). These were sold by Taber’s studio by 1889. The shrine hall was not replaced after the 1906 earthquake.

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11. Hong Sing Society [?] / Dock Tin Society
810 Clay / 1887 Sanborn

The 1887 Sanborn map notes this location at 810 Clay as “Chinese Laundry 2d Joss Ho 3d,” meaning it identified a joss house on the top floor. (The 1885 Supervisors’ Map identified the building as a restaurant.) Several contemporary photographs looking east down Clay towards Dupont (see proper map orientation here) suggest a shrine hall occupied the top floor (see below, also here, here, here & here). Hanging lanterns were a fixture on both restaurant and temple balconies, but one would expect to see inscribed boards above and on both sides of the main door of a temple. Existing photographs do not clearly show such details. Newspaper reports, however, provide some clues. In 1892, a fire damaged the roof of the St. Francis hotel, located on the corner of Dupont and Clay, which consequently damaged a joss house belonging to the Hong Sing Society, reputed “on Waverly” (see below). Perhaps it referred to 810 Clay? Moreover, in January 1895, continuing police raids in Chinatown claim to have captured a “war joss” (i.e. Guandi) from Dock Tin Society at 810 Clay [source]. If we turn to the 1905 Sanborn map we find the third floor was still being used for society rooms [here]. Regardless of these activities, 810 Clay was perhaps most known for its successful restaurant that operated on the first and second floors into the early twentieth century. It appears the restaurant or building owner rented space to various Chinese societies from time to time. Overall, the eye-catching balconies of 810 Clay would become a favorite of Chinatown photographers and postcard manufacturers (see detailed write-up by Doug Chan here)[additional photos of Clay & Waverly here].

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12. Wong Kong Ha Shrine (Huang jiangxia 黃江夏)
3 Brenham Place / 1887 Sanborn

Both the 1885 Surveyors’ Map and the 1887 Sanborn Map mark 3 Brenham Place as a joss house, coincidentally right next door to the Chinese Mission. The multi-story wood building was possibly owned by the wealthy Wong Kong Ha clan. One photo reputedly dated to 1880 appears to show 3 Brenham Place with a shrine hall on the top floor (see below). The 1887 Sanborn map shows a three story brick building with joss house, a precursor to the four-story building built by the Wong clan in 1890. The top held a shrine to Water Moon Guanyin. In 1894 they moved the shrine hall next door, as can be seen in the 1905 Sanborn map [here].

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14. Tin How Temple (Tianhou miao 天后廟) & Sam Yup Association II (Sanyi huiguan 三邑會館)[?] & Hip Yee Society (Xieyi tang 協義堂)
33 / 121 Waverly Place / 1887 Sanborn

In 1892, Frederic Masters claimed the Tin How Temple was connected to the Sam Yup Association, but Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson have suggested it was an independent temple which may have been occasionally used by the Sam Yup Association. In support of this claim, an 1880 city tax assessment locates the principle Sam Yup joss house at 825 Dupont [#17], proving the district association did not consider the Tin How Temple as its dedicated shrine hall in the early 1880s. Furthermore, in 1868, the Sam Yup Association is recorded as owning buildings on Clay and Sacramento streets, while also renting offices on Commercial Street, but no mention is made of property on Waverly at this time.

The recurring claim that the Tin How Temple was founded in the early 1850s, when the Sam Yup organization was first founded, seems now to be without sound evidence. An 1877 city directory locates the Hip Yee Society temple at 33 Waverly, the same address as Tin How Temple. In the previous year, the city directory located the Hip Yee Society temple at 730 Jackson, an address noted for its temple dedicated to Tianhou [#30]. While more evidence is warranted, It appears the Hip Yee Society was consequential in founding the Tin How Temple in the late 1870s, the same period in which Ho and Bronson find the first explicit mention of a Tin How Temple in extant records. This dating is bolstered by a June 1877 Chronicle article, entitled “A New Joss House,” that speaks of a new temple on Waverly dedicated to the “Daughter of Heaven,” an inexact rendering of the name Tin How. There is currently no clear evidence a Tin How Temple was located on Waverly before 1877. Moreover, up through 1874, the popular birthday celebrations for the goddess Tianhou were held at the Tin How Temple on Mason Street [#X2]. Before burning down in 1874, this temple on Mason appears to have been the most important Chinatown site related to the goddess.

Turning again to the building on Waverly (renumbered 121 from the original 33 before the earthquake) the central icon was always cited as Tin How (Tianhou 天后, the Empress of Heaven; also known as Mazu 媽祖). Isaiah West Taber took several photos of the original two-story building (with additional basement level), including one in approximately the mid-1880s, as did Treu Ergeben Hecht (see below). This building’s facade was commonly used for early twentieth century Chinatown postcards (see here), helping to establish it as a visual icon of pre-1906 Chinatown. No objects belonging to the original shrine hall appear to have survived the 1906 earthquake and fire; I also know of no surviving illustrations or photos of the original altar (although one candidate shows an incense burner inscribed with Temple of Many Saints [liesheng gong 列聖宮] as seen on the signboard above the Tin How Temple doorway, see here [also here]; see false historical identification here). Given the secondary name of the Tin How Temple as the Temple of Many Saints, we may surmise multiple icons were enshrined here, likely including Guanyin, but documentation is sparse as to the content of the shrine halls previous to 1906. The temple was rebuilt on roughly the same footprint of the old building, renumbered now as 125 Waverly.

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16. Eastern Glory Temple II (Donghua miao 東華廟) & Gee Tuck Society (Zhide tang 至德堂) & Yee Fung Toy Society (Yufengcai tang 余風采堂)
35 Waverly Place / 1887 Sanborn

Adjacent to Tin How Temple, 35 Waverly was rebuilt as a three-story brick structure around 1885. Perhaps just prior, Li Po Tai appears to have moved his temple from St. Louis Alley [#24] to this address. A report in 1882 describing a shrine hall identified the central icon as the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heavens (Xuantian shangdi) as well as other icons present at Li Po Tai’s older location. After the new building on Waverly was finished, the second floor was occupied by the Gee Tuck Society shine, but was destroyed by sabotage in 1888. Frederic Masters still names the Eastern Glory Temple at 35 Waverly in 1892 as does a Chinese language business directory from the same year. At some point the third floor was used by the Yee Fung Toy Society, who were deeded the building in 1896. Isaiah West Taber photographed 33 and 35 Waverly in the late 1880s (see below), offering the cityscape portrait for sale by 1889.

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17. Sam Yup Association I (Sanyi huiguan 三邑會館)
825 Dupont / 1887 Sanborn

The Sam Yup Association is among the oldest district associations in San Francisco, founded in 1851 as the Canton Company, then operating as Sam Yup starting in 1853. Its close association with the Tin How Temple on Waverly at the turn of the twentieth century may explain why the latter is often cited as being founded in 1851, 1852, or 1853. As noted above [#14], however, the association between these two entities is complex, but it is clear the Sam Yup Association did not found the Tin How Temple in the 1850s. In fact, there is no clear evidence of them operating a temple or shrine hall in San Francisco until the 1880s. In 1868, Sam Yup had a “company house” on Clay Street above Powell in a “dilapidated condition,” but we are not informed if this building had a dedicated shrine hall. We may presume, at the least, it housed a small altar, but was not open to the public like other large district association temples.

By 1876 the Sam Yup Association is linked to an unknown address on Dupont Street and in 1880 a San Francisco city tax assessment lists a Sam Yup Company with joss house at 825 Dupont. The Dupont address is corroborated in the city directory the following year, but unexpectedly adds a “Sum Yup” Company joss house at 730 Jackson Street, possibly in reference to poorly understood Jackson Street temple devoted to Tainhou [#30]. Moreover, in 1883, a Sam Yup temple is noted as being on Waverly, but this is listed separately from a Tin How Temple also on Waverly, suggesting they were distinct entities at the time. The 1887 Sanborn map lists “Club Rooms & Joss Ho.” at 825 Dupont, showing Sam Yup members keep a shrine at that address in the late 1880s. Fundraising efforts in 1899 finally allowed the Sam Yup Association to open their own dedicated public temple the following year at 929 Dupont Street [#25], as can be seen in the 1905 Sanborn map [here].

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18. Chee Kong Society (Zhigong tang 致公堂)
69 / 32 Spofford Street / 1887 Sanborn

Often cited as the most wealthy and influential of all Chinese secret societies, the Chee Kong Society occupied a three-story building on Spofford since 1881, moving from 827 Washington Street. In 1886 Harper’s Weekly covered the Chee Kong’s elaborate initiation rituals which took place before a religious altar. The shrine hall is not described in the text and the accompanying sketch may be fictional (see below). After a series of police raids around Chinatown in 1891, newspaper reports claim Chee Kong’s icon, Guandi, was damaged and sought legal restitution from the city. After 1906, the Chee Kong Society rebuilt on the footprint of their old building, complete with new shrine hall.

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19. Guanyin Temple (Guanyin miao 觀音廟)
60 Spofford Street / 1887 Sanborn

Opened by the early 1880s, the Guanyin Temple was located on the top floor of a three-story brick building on the southwest corner of Spofford Street and Washington Street. The temple is curiously missing form both the 1885 Supervisors’ map and the 1887 Sanborn map. Nevertheless, in 1883, a Guanyin shrine is cited as located on the “contracted upper floor of a small building on Washington.” Frederic Masters, writing in 1892, notes the shrine hall was atop a “dingy staircase” that held a “rudely carved image and grimy vestments.” According to Masters, the space held an assortment of other figures, including the God of Medicine (Huatuo 華佗), the Grand Duke of Peace (Suijing Bo 绥靖伯), and Tsai Tin Tai Shing (Qitian dasheng 齊天大聖, otherwise known as the Monkey King, Sun Wukong 孙悟空).

In a rare find, a brochure seeking funds to restore the temple has survived, dated to 1886 (guangxu 12). It claims, perhaps uncritically, that the temple had existed for more than thirty years at that point. It also notes the space was managed by Li Xiyi 李希意. Isaiah West Taber took a photo looking down Spofford; the temple’s round lanterns can barely be seen at the far end (see below). Additionally, Arnold Genthe took at least one photo showing the exterior signage of this temple between 1896 and 1906 (see below). The temple was not rebuilt after 1906.

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24. Eastern Glory Temple I (Donghua miao 東華廟)
St. Louis Alley (previously thought to be rear of 933 Dupont Street) / 1887 Sanborn

Opening in 1871, it appears famed Chinatown physician Li Po Tai (Li Putai 黎普泰) may have started this private temple after barely surviving a gas explosion in 1870. The multi-room temple was on the third floor of a large building on St. Louis Alley, allowing entrance from both Dupont and Jackson streets. (A city directory from 1877 lists the address as 921 1/2 Dupont, which refers to a narrow alley running off Dupont, sometimes also called Nun Kuk Alley). A map of Chinatown compiled by Henry Josiah West in 1873 places a joss house at the 90-degree bend in St. Louis Alley [here]. Until recently, I considered this in error. Yet, this placement is corroborated by an oil painting of St. Louis Alley by Karl Wilhelm Hahn (1829–1887), which depicts a temple doorway on the third story of a building (see below). Rather uncharacteristically, the horizontal Chinese signboard is clearly legible, saying “Eastern Glory Temple.” Even the vertical pillar boards (yinglian 楹聯) appear to match mostly match with known textual records (and a partly obscured photograph). According to the numbering on the 1887 Sanborn map, this doorway is approximately equivalent to 4 or 5 St. Louis Alley, but a report from 1873 clarifies the temple occupied the entirety of the third flood of the building, spanning six rooms and thus multiple ground-floor addresses. The first room, furthest east, was fitted with a small door and led to a reception area while the second room sold ritual supplies. The final four rooms enshrined icons. A larger second doorway, seen in Hahn’s painting, led directly to the main altar.

A series of stereo-photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge offer clear depictions of the temple interior, including the main altar (see below). The Supreme Ruler of the Somber Heavens (Xuantian shangdi 玄天上帝; also Northern Emperor [Beidi 北帝]) sits in the center. Some contemporary reports seems to conflate this central icon with Buddhist figures. It also appear Li may have moved icons around as one visitor claims in 1876, and another in 1880, that Guandi was the central icon, but this may just be a mis-identification (also see next entry for Yan Wo). The main hall originally enshrined a total of five icons, while other deities were found in adjoining rooms, including a Guanyin figure. One visitor writing in 1890, but describing experiences more than a decade earlier, noted a Chinese liturgy to Guanyin imprinted with her image available for sale. This was likely similar to the printed liturgy seen at Ah Ching’s Tin How Temple [#X2].

By 1880, at least three major Chinatown celebrations centered upon Eastern Glory Temple, including the birthdays of the Northern Emperor (3rd day of 3rd lunar month) and the God of Wealth (16th day of 7th lunar month), as well as the summertime Ghost Festival, suggesting this privately-run temple was a major center of local religious life. Consequently, through the 1870s, Eastern Glory Temple was known as the “boss temple” of Chinatown. At least two engravings were published showing the interior of the main shrine hall with three total altars (see below). Sometime around 1882, Li Po Tai seems to have moved the contents of his Eastern Glory Temple to 35 Waverly [#16], next door to Tin How Temple [#14]. Frederick Masters still notes an Eastern Glory at 35 Waverly in 1892, but does not afford it a description, suggesting it had fallen from previous heights as a major Chinatown attraction.

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27. Yan Wo Association (Renhe huiguan 和會館)
5 St. Louis Alley & 933 Dupont Street / 1887 Sanborn

In 1877 it was reported that Yan Wo was the only district association of the major six that did not yet have a temple. Three years later, in 1880, a San Francisco city tax assessment reported the Yan Wo Association had an operating joss house located at 5 St. Louis Alley. In 1883 a Yan Wo temple is noted on St. Louis Alley, corroborating the above claims, but I have found no descriptions of the shrine hall. By 1892, the address of the Yan Wo Association had moved around the block to 933 Dupont Street, where its shrine was outfitted with an icon of Guandi and “fitted up in elegant style.” An oil painting by Karl Wilhelm Hahn of St. Louis Alley, estimated to have been completed in 1885, shows Eastern Glory Temple at 4 or 5 St. Louis Alley [#24]. It remains unknown if Yan Wo shared or occupied the space at Eastern Glory Temple, or if they occupied a different floor of the same building. If the 1876 and 1880 reports citing Guandi as the main icon in Eastern Glory Temple are correct (see previous entry), this may indicate a change of stewardship to Yan Wo, but this remains uncorroborated. The 1887 Sanborn map likely shows the Yan Wo temple at its new location in the rear of the 933 Dupont building.

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28. St. George Temple
731 Jackson Street

The 1875 Bishop San Francisco City Directory contains a curious entry: St. George Joss House, 731 Jackson [source]. It is listed again in the 1876 edition [source], but is gone by the following year. Nothing is known about this temple. It is not clear why the Christian martyr, St. George, famed for his defeat of a villainous dragon, is adopted as the name of a Chinese temple, but Frederick Masters provides a clue. In his survey of Chinatown temples in 1892, Masters describes Guandi as the “Saint George of Far Cathy,” drawing attention to the militaristic aspects of both figures. The St. George Joss House may have been one of many Chinese temples devoted to the semi-historical figure Guandi.

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29. Bing Kong Society II (binggong tang 秉公堂)
740 Jackson / 1887 Sanborn

After a series of violent altercations with the Chee Kong Society, the group from which the Bing Kong Society originally split, city police decided to raid all Chinese secret society headquarters just before Chinese New year in 1891. The Bing Kong were ransacked first while still on Washington [#21], as “joss and idols fell with a crash” [source]. In autumn the following year, the society fashioned an old store at 740 Jackson into a shrine hall to celebrate their ancestors; the local news covered the event and incorporated a small illustration (see below). Important festivals of this period, categorically glossed as dajiao 打醮 by Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, had giant wood-framed paper statues of deities placed at the temple entrance. These were burned at the end of celebrations. (For comparison, I’ve also included a painting by Theodore Wores showing similar figures at an unidentified Chinatown temple, the original painting was likely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire; further figures are seen here & here). Since many non-Chinese visitors came during big festivals, some reports mistakenly believe these giant images are permanent features of the temple. Eventually, the Bing Kong Society would establish a shrine hall at 34 Waverly Place by the late 1890s [#13].

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30. Jackson Street Temple
730 Jackson Street [?] / 1887 Sanborn

One temple on Jackson Street, often noted as located between Dupont Street and Stockton Street remains obscure. In 1876 this location is described as displaying a central icon of Tianhou (Mazu), a claim that is repeated in 1880 and 1882 (although this latter author visited Chinatown in the summer of 1878). In 1883, a temple on “Jackson Street near Stockton” is named as Eastern Glory Temple, but this could be a mistake for the location of Li Po Tai’s old location on St. Louis Alley [#24], sometimes also cited as being off Jackson. To add further confusion, Li possibly owned the building at 730 Jackson [source] and probably moved his temple to 35 Waverly by 1882 [#16], but construction at this Waverly address may have caused his temporary relocation in the mid-1880s. The 1881 city directory lists a “Sum Yup” joss house at 730 Jackson Street, which likely refers to the Sam Yup Association later connected with the Tin How Temple on Waverly [#14]. Previously, the Hip Yee Society was also reported as having a temple at 730 Jackson in 1877. Notably, the following year, the Hip Yee Society listed their temple at 33 Waverly, the location of the famed Tin How Temple and a building they ultimately acquired in 1891 [#14].

The relationship between the Tianhou temples on Jackson and Waverly remains unknown, but the Hip Yee Society may have played a role. Notably, in a work published in 1880, Chinatown’s birthday celebrations for Tianhou (23rd day of the 3rd lunar month) are noted to take place at the Jackson Street temple, suggesting this was the most important temple to the goddess at the time (previously, in 1873, celebrations wer held at Ah Ching’s Tianhou temple on Mason [#X2]). The growth in the popularity of the Waverly temple seems to be directly related to the disappearance of the Tianhou temple on Jackson.

In 1885, it appears the Yeong Wo utilized this space temporarily before moving to their new building at 730 Sacramento [#6], possibly accounting for why the 1885 Supervisors’ map indicates a joss house on Jackson, but the 1887 Sanborn map does not. Frederick Masters does not mention a Tianhou temple, or any other shrine hall, on Jackson in his thorough survey of Chinatown temples in 1892.

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34. Ning Yung Association I (Ningyang huiguan 寧陽會館)
517 Broadway Street / 1887 Sanborn

The first Ning Yung temple occupied the top floor of an impressive two-story brick building on Broadway just below Montgomery Avenue. The organization was founded in 1853 when it broke away from the Sze Yap Association, but Ning Yung members did not open their own dedicated temple until 1864. The shrine hall was consecrated to local media fanfare and was used until 1891 when the association moved to Waverly [#8]. The central icon was a life-size Guandi, described by an early-career Mark Twain as “excessively fat” with a “rotund face…painted excessively red” [source]. The original shrine hall was large with eighteen-foot ceilings and filled with ornate carvings, inscribed plaques, and ritual implements. This temple was an early tourist favorite on the northern fringes of Chinatown, despite being located in the vice-ridden area then called Barbary Coast. After the privately owned Eastern Glory Temple opened in 1871 [#24], tourist traffic tended to be redirected there by guidebooks. The move of the Ning Yung Association to Waverly in the ealry 1890s relocated its temple into the heart of Chinatown.

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X1. Sze Yup Association (Siba huiguan 四邑會館) / Kong Chow Association (Gangzhou huiguan 岡州會館)
512 Pine Street / 1887 Sanborn

The Pine Street temple was first constructed by the Sze Yup Association in 1853, but the central icon of Guandi did not arrive from China until 1856. A multi-day celebration was held to consecrate the shrine hall on the second floor. It is commonly claimed the Sze Yup (alternatively, “Sze Yap”) temple was the first Buddhist temple in the United States, but this is without warrant. The sole icon enshrined was Guandi, as was common in district association temples, and no images of the Buddha or any other Buddhist figure were installed. Guandi was mainly revered as a patron of loyalty, integrity, and fraternity, all values central to district association members who lived far from their homeland. Moreover, contemporary reports note the 1856 consecration used meat and alcohol offerings, items used widely in Chinese popular religion, but not sanctioned by conventional Chinese Buddhist practice.

If any members of the Sze Yup Association sought a more appropriate religious setting with Buddhist icons (bracketing the thorny issue of Chinese religious affiliation in the modern period), they would have gone to private temples that housed a wider variety of deities, including popular figures like Guanyin. Indeed, it was possibly the lack of certain deities in district association temples that motivated the growth of private temples, such as Ah Ching’s Tin How Temple [#X2], opening as early as 1856, and Li Po Tai’s Eastern Glory Temple [#24], opening in 1871 – both of which enshrined Guanyin in special rooms. After the dissolution of the Sze Yup Association, as Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson have shown, all of its property was legally deeded to the Kong Chow Association, one of the splinter groups of the Sze Yup, in the mid-1860s. Despite the construction of new temples by other district associations over the years, the Kong Chow temple remained a special place of reverence for those devoted to Guandi. In both 1873 and 1880, and undoubtedly most other years as well, Guandi’s birthday celebrations (13th day of 5th lunar month) were held on Kong Chow temple grounds, a point underscored by Masters in 1892 who claimed the temple was viewed as particularly “efficacious.” The Kong Chow Association remained on Pine through 1906 and, unlike its sister organizations, was one of the few to rebuild its shrine hall after the San Francisco earthquake.

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X2. Ah Ching’s Tin How Temple
Corner of Post Street & Mason Street

As reported in 1868, the merchant Ah Ching opened what might have been the first private temple in San Francisco, located just west of Union Square on Mason Street near Post Street. The main icon was Tianhou, located on the first floor, but additional icons were soon added, including the standard fixtures of the Earth God (Tudi shen), God of Medicine (Huatuo), God of Wealth (Cai shen), and Guandi. This report is also the first account of Golden Flower (Jinhua), a figure that would come to have her own temple by the late 1880s [#2]. On the second floor a singular icon of Guanyin was enshrined, making this the first attested appearance of this vaunted Buddhist figure on American soil. At least by 1868, a short liturgy to Guanyin, printed on yellow paper and bearing her image holding a willow branch and vase, was distributed to devout temple visitors. It is unknown when An Ching’s temple opened, but Ho and Bronson speculate it could have been as early as 1856. In 1873 and 1874, Chinatown’s three-day birthday celebrations for Tianhou are noted as taking place at this temple, suggesting it was a central meeting place for Chinese immigrants. At least one newspaper report claims this temple was, “the resort of itinerant wash-house men and household servants,” contrasting it to the more upscale district association temples, such as the Sze Yup temple on Pine [#X1]. By 1868, Ah Ching had already died and the temple was in the hands of a former temple servant. The temple succumbed to fire in 1874 and was not rebuilt.

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Other Shrines in San Francisco’s Chinatown

The 1885 Supervisors’ map indicates a total of thirteen joss houses in Chinatown, a rough number that is often repeated in contemporary San Francisco guidebooks. This is certainly a steep under-reporting if we were to include all types of religious shrines. Many smaller temples and private shrines undoubtedly went unnoticed to outsiders traversing and mapping Chinatown’s streets. For example, we know there were also guilds for carpenters, tailors, and cigar makers, among others, and all likely had their own meeting halls with altars to their guild deities, but we know nothing of their whereabouts. Notably, according to Frederic Masters, Chinatown theaters had a shrine to Lord Tam [see #3] and Huaguang 華光, always in an alcove about ten feet above the main stage. Surviving photographs show this shrine alcove in both the New Chinese Theater, at 623 Jackson [#26], run by the Sam Yup Association, and the Grand Chinese Theater at 814 Washington [#23] (Isaiah West Taber’s studio misidentifies the latter as the former, see discussion here). At times, during important celebrations, a temple’s icon might be paraded down the streets and taken to the Chinese opera. Such an event happened in the early 1880s (the recounting was published in 1883) when Guanyin’s icon on Spofford was taken to the Grand Chinese Theater at the north end of Waverly during her birthday celebrations (19th day of 2nd lunar month), and provided performances until early the next morning. This too occurred in 1884 for Yeong Wo’s Houwang icon during his birthday festivities (7th day of 8th lunar month).

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Outside of the overlooked clan, guild, and secret society shrines, there were also endless smaller private shrines, either displaying small statues, painted scrolls, or inscribed tablets. One observer, describing the Chinese in Santa Cruz, noted that, “nearly every store has a small space dedicated to the Joss with incense punks and food before printed papers representing a Joss” [source]. We have some specific reports about this scenario in San Francisco. For example, writing in 1880, G.B. Densmore notes spotting a joss in the rear room at Tune Fong [Yuen Fong] Restaurant at 710 Jackson Street [#31]. A scene reminiscent of this was painted by Theodore Wores, a native of San Francisco who created beautiful imagery of Chinatown in the mid-1880s. His “Chinese Musicians” portrays a restaurant (or society club room) environment with a small altar along the right side, ready with incense burner. The image on the scroll appears to be Fuxing 福星, a stellar deity associated with good fortune (also seen here with merchants posing in front). A reproduction of Wores’ painting in Harper’s Monthly Magazine in 1892 adds trails of incense smoke to enliven the shrine space. Among the many nineteenth century photographs of Chinatown restaurant interiors it is sometimes possible to spot a small altar in the back, often with offering vessels placed in front of a scroll. For example, photographer Carlton Watkins captured the interior of the famed restaurant Hang Far Low Restaurant at 713 Dupont Street in the early 1880s [#7]. If we look to the left side of the smoking divan we can clearly see the altar to Guandi with a full five-piece altar set (see below).(Other small altars might be visible here, here, & here.)

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Elsewhere in his account, Densmore highlights the importance of Guandi, noting, “in nearly every house or store they have a picture of this god.” Historian Thomas Chinn has also written about the ubiquity of altars in stores throughout San Francisco’s Chinatown:

“In the back of nearly every shop in Chinatown there used to be an altar, before which the most venerable or senior member of the firm would offer incense every morning and before dinner. The altar was always a simple one, dedicated either to the Earth God (tudi shen) or to the God of Prosperity (cai shen), represented by a written inscription. In front of the altar would be an incense urn, candlesticks, and three cups of tea. On important occasions there would also be three thimbles of wine, flowers, fruit, and other food. Most of the altars disappeared after 1911.” [source]

There were also innumerable domestic shrines of varying size. Wealthy individuals could afford a large carved altar with full set of five ritual vessels and an ornately painted “joss” scroll. We find an example of such in a wood engraving published in 1875 by Harper’s Weekly. A very similar household shrine is seen in the photography of R. J. Waters who operated a studio in San Francisco around 1900 (see both below).

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But what do we know about the simplest of household shrines? Not long after Waters’ photograph, San Francisco’s Board of Health blamed Chinatown’s residents for fears of a potential outbreak of the plague. This led to razing of several buildings in 1903. Documentary photographs taken at the time show some of the poorest areas of the neighborhood where structures were removed. One photograph proves that even the simplest of Chinatown’s abodes still maintained a small shrine, made from an altar of stacked bricks (see below). Its notable that all three domestic shrines depicted here display the same trio of icons: Guandi flanked by his adoptive son, Guan Ping 關平, and his subordinate general, Zhou Cang 周倉. These three figures appear in the Ming novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a source for the development of much popular religious lore in the following centuries.

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It is unknown how many altars, shines, and icons were destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, but a reasonable response would be in the many thousands. This is far beyond the dozen or so joss houses mapped by various authorities at the end of the nineteenth century. We also know of some stories of survival. At least one delicately carved wooden alcove, possibly originally containing a icon of Water Moon Guanyin, was recovered by the Hee family as they fled the oncoming fires [here]. This remains material evidence of the importance of the cult of Guanyin in San Francisco’s Chinatown at the turn of the twentieth century. Such evidence helps corroborate the observations of one visitor, writing in 1883, who noted the popularity of Guanyin among the residents of Chinatown, claiming, “her image or portrait occupies a prominent corner of every private home as well as temple.”

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About this Project

Many nineteenth and early twentieth photographs and illustrations of Chinese American religious sites remain unidentified because they are often labeled or captioned as generic “joss houses.” To facilitate identification, I’ve compared contemporary written accounts with objects from the visual record of Chinatown, cross referencing them with maps and listed addresses of known temples. The end product was the identification of several images of unknown religious sites and the location of several temples of which we only had a written description. I’m publishing my working notes here for a basic map of the Chinatown temples I’ve identified. I have used the 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map as the basis for the main map in consultation with the 1885 San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors’ Map and the 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map to help track changes over time (see resources below). Ultimately, this is the byproduct of a larger project I am currently working on regarding the material culture of early Asian American religions with a focus on early American Buddhist traditions.

I welcome any questions or comments: peter.romaskiewicz[at]gmail.com.

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Referenced Print Resources:

• Chinn, Thomas W. 1989. Bridging the Pacific: San Francisco Chinatown and Its People. San Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America. [Internet Archive]
• Densmore, G. B. 1880. The Chinese in California: Description of Chinese Life in San Francisco. Their Habits, Morals, and Manners. San Francisco: Pettit & Russ. [source]
• Ho, Chuimei, and Bennet Bronson. 2022. Chinese Traditional Religion and Temple in North America, 1849–1920: California. Seattle: Chinese in Northwest America Research Committee.
• Masters, Frederic J. 1892. “Pagan Temples in San Francisco.” Californian Illustrated Magazine, November: 727–741.
• Masters, Frederic J. 1895. “The Chinese Drama.” The Chautauquan 21 (4): 432–42.

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Online Resources:

• Chinese in Northwest America Research Committee [This group published an initial map of Chinatown organizations in 2018 (here). I owe the initial impetus of creating a temple map to the outstanding editors of this website.]
• Chinatown 1905 [Chuimei Ho’s research project]
• 1872 H.J. West’s Map of Chinatown [California Historical Society]
• 1882 Wells Fargo Directory of Chinese Business Houses [1871 & 1878 editions in Well Fargo Museum]
• 1885 San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors’ Map [David Rumsey Map Collection]
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection [Library of Congress]
• 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map [Library of Congress]
• 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map [Library of Congress]
• 1894 Block Book of San Francisco, 1st ed.
• 1901 Block Book of San Francisco, 2nd ed.
• 1892 Chinese-Language Chinatown Business Directory and Lunar Calendar
• 1908 Chinese-Language Chinatown Business Directory and Lunar Calendar
• 1895 Chinese Business Directory of the City of San Francisco
• 1901 Chinese Map of San Francisco Chinatown [UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library]
• 1929 Chinese Map of San Francisco Chinatown [Boston Public Library]
• San Francisco City Directories [San Francisco Public Library]
• San Francisco Telephone Directories [Internet Archive]
• 1878 San Francisco Telephone Directory [Internet Archive]
• Harper’s Weekly and the Chinese
• Harper’s Weekly [University of Pennsylvania, Online Book Page]
• Harper’s Monthly Magazine [Hathi Trust]
• Chinese in California Virtual Collection [UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library]
• The Photographs of Carlton Watkins
• Edweard J. Muybridge Collection [Getty Museum]
• Arnold Genthe Collection [Library of Congress]
• Kransky Collection of Mitchell Postcards [UC Berkeley, Berkeley Library]
• Treu Ergeben Hecht Photographs [San Francisco Public Library]
• Charles A. Rogers Chinatown Paintings [UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library]
• Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection [University of British Columbia]
• Marilyn Blaisdell Photograph Collection [San Francisco Public Library]
• 1903 J. M. Williamson M.D. Board of Health Photograph Album of Chinatown [San Francisco Public Library]
• Chinese in California, 1850–1920 [UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library] (Buddha, Buddha, Huang Fo Yeye, Guandi, Tianhou, Northern Emperor)
• Chinese in California Newspaper Scrapbook, 1877–1878 [UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library]
• Augustus Ward Loomis papers, 1803-1897 [Cornell University]
• Philip P. Choy Papers [Stanford University]

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Additional “Working Notes” Posts