Previously Highlighted Asian Pacific American Heritage Properties

National Park of American Samoa NPS Photograph, courtesy of National Park of American Samoa

Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District
The Chinatown and Little Italy neighborhoods in Manhattan were forged in a dynamic period in American history, from the mid 19th to the early 20th century; a time when waves of immigrants from all corners of the world came to New York seeking opportunity.

De Sabla, Eugene J., Jr., Teahouse and Tea Garden
San Mateo, California:
he garden is the work of Asian landscape designer and Japanese-born  Baron Makota Hagiwara (1854-1925) during the time of his association (1894-1925) as chief gardener and concessionaire of the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  The de Sabla Teahouse and Tea Garden is the only other known extant example of his work and the only private Japanese tea garden that survives from the many that existed on the grand estates of San Francisco/Hillsborough. The Tea Garden and Teahouse were part of the El Cerrito estate owned by Eugene de Sabla, who was a major industrialist in the west and co-founded the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Vatia, Old
Old Vatia on Tutuila Island in American Samoa contains a wealth of well-preserved features which help interpret the history and prehistory of the Polynesian Samoans.

Ah Louis Store
San Luis Obispo, California:
Read about the young man Wong On who left his village near the city of Canton, China, in order to avoid the Taiping Rebellion, searched for gold in America, founded a business, created a Chinese community, and helped build the infrastructure of the west coast.

Likinlulem Federated States of Micronesia: Likinlulem is an exceptional site in the archeological record of the island of Kosrae, in the Federated States of Micronesia. It was continually occupied from at least AD 1200 to 1600, a period of great importance in the traditional history of the island.

Bromley Farm -- Koizuma Hishinuma Farm Brighton, Colorado: James Hishinuma, the youngest of the family, felt it was his duty to fight in the war for the United States. He joined the army and was assigned to the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team.

Washington Place Honolulu, Hawaii: During the era in which Washington Place was built, the Hawaiian Kingdom was a constitutional monarchy, ruled by a native Hawaiian of Polynesian descent, King Kamehameha III.

Guam Congress Building Hagatna, Guam: was the first “strictly all stateside” type of building constructed by the U.S. Navy on post-war Guam.

Tule Lake Segregation Center Photo courtesy of the National Historic Landmarks collection

Tule Lake Segregation Center Newell, Modoc County, California: Tule Lake was the largest and longest-lived of the ten camps built by the civilian War Relocation Authority (WRA) to house Japanese Americans relocated from the west coast of the United States under the terms of Executive Order 9066.

Granada Relocation Center Granada, Prowers County, Colorado: Because Granada’s project director was unusually sensitive to the difficulties facing the evacuees, Granada avoided the conflict and occasional violence that occurred at some of the other relocation centers.

Chinatown Archeological Site Riverside County, California: Chinatown was founded by Chinese merchants on the outskirts of Riverside, California in 1885 to escape their harassment by Anglo merchants and citizens in the city’s downtown.

Little Tokyo Historic District Los Angeles County, California: he area that later came to be known as Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California started as an ethnically mixed area populated by Chinese, Black and Jewish ethnic groups.

Close up view of inner shrine looking south Photo by G. Cabrera, courtesy of Division of Historic Preservation, Saipan, CNMI

Hachiman Jinga Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands: Constructed during the 1930s under the Japanese administration of the Northern Mariana Islands, this shrine has survived both the World War II battle for Saipan and the intervening years substantially intact and still retains its original structural components and landscape elements.

Kam Wah Chung Company Building John Day, Oregon: Built circa 1866 as a trading post, the building later served as a commercial, social, cultural, and spiritual center of the Chinese settlement of John Day.

Garnier Building (Chinese American Museum) in the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District
Los Angeles, California: The Garnier Building was once regarded as the unofficial "city hall" of Los Angeles's Chinese community.

Portland Buddhist Church Portland, Oregon: The Portland Buddhist Church stands as an important reminder of the thriving Japanese community once located in Northwest Portland--it was the first Buddhist church founded in Oregon.

Full view of Kinkaku-Ji Temple National Register collection; photo by David Franzen

Kyoto Gardens of Honolulu Memorial Park Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii: The Honolulu Memorial Park, Kyoto Gardens consists of two large columbarium (a structure of vaults lined with recesses for cinerary urns) structures and a Japanese garden.

Hawaii Shingon Mission Honolulu, Hawaii: As the mother church for the Shingon sect in Hawaii, the Hawaii Shingon Mission on Sheridan Street in Honolulu is one of the most elaborately decorated Buddhist temples in Hawaii.

Stedman--Thomas Historic District Ketchikan, Alaska: was a cultural melting pot for Asian and Pacific Islanders involved in Alaska's fishing industry from the early 1900s to the 1940s.

Mendocino Joss House (now the Temple of Kwan Tai): this temple may be not only the longest continuously operating temple, but also the oldest "original" Joss House in California.

Mukai Cold Process Fruit Barrelling Plant: the Mukai Cold Processing Fruit Barrelling Plant stands as a testament to the Mukai family's dream of owning and operating a successful strawberry processing and packing business.

Leluh Ruins (Kosrae Freely Associated State, FSM): The Leluh Ruins are the impressive remains of what was once the political and religious center of Kosraen society.

Nan Madol (Temwen Island, Pohnpei State, FSM): Nan Madol, known as the Venice of the Pacific, is a 321-acre central, core complex of man-made basalt islands and architectural remains built atop an atoll.

Stone courtyard and exterior of Rull Men's Meeting House Photograph from National Register collection, by Yvonne Brewer

Rull Men's Meeting House (Yap Freely Associated State, FSM): Traditionally, these "mens houses" were used for planning war strategy, rites of passage for young men, and other important aspects of social life, a tradition that is still active today.

Truk Lagoon Underwater Sea Fleet (Truk Atoll, FSM): From July 1942 to February 1944, Japan's Combined Fleet operated out of Truk, extending its power into the Southeast and Southern Pacific

St. Xavier High School (Winipis, Truk, FSM): St. Xavier High School, formerly a World War II-era Japanese radio communication center, is on land that was purchased by the Catholic Church from the local Pwaraka Clan in the 1910s.

Old Japanese Hospital (Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands): Designed by architect Yasaburo Yamashita and built in 1926 during the Japanese administration, the hospital was the most up to date medical facility in all of Micronesia.

Joachim de Brum House, Marshall Islands Photograph courtesy of David Look

Joachim de Brum House (Likiep Island, Republic of Marshall Islands): The house and its remaining contents reflect a bygone era of plantations and trading during German and Japanese occupation, colonization, World Wars I and II, and the early Post War Period.

Bai Ra Irrai - Men's Meeting House (Babelthuap Island, Republic of Palau): is bai, or meeting house, is located in the center of Airai Village on a stone platform that once was the site of two ancient bais.

Peleliu Battlefield (Peleliu Island, Republic of Palau): The battle for Peleliu Island, "Gateway to the Philippines," in 1944 was the one of the longest and one of the hardest fought amphibious operations of the entire Central Pacific Theater in World War II.

Fafai Beach (Guam): Just inland of a beautiful white coral sand beach are the remains of six to eight latte structures or sets

Gadao's Cave (Guam): Little is known about who may have created the approximately 50 pictographs that line the walls of the cave or when they were created.

Umatac Outdoor Library (Guam): This was the first public library built in the southern part of Guam and the only library of its kind to provide English language literature to school children and the residents of Umatac village. Obtaining and returning books was based on the honor system.

Plaza de Espana (Guam): The Plaza de Espana was the center of political power in Guam for over 200 years during Spanish, American, and Japanese occupation.

Torre Water Catchment (Guam): The construction of the water catchments provided an incentive for Chamorro villagers to consider long term settlement away from overcrowded villages.

Guam Institute (Guam): The Guam Institute, or Lujan House, is one of the few remaining pre-World War II houses in Agana.

Chinese Sites in the Warren Mining District MPS
Ruins and archeological sites in Warren, Idaho, reflect the impact of Chinese immigration to the area.

Polly Bemis with her horses, Nellie and Julie, Feb. 6, 1910 Courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Society, Neg. No. 62-44.7, Photograph by Charles Shepp

Polly Bemis House
Learn more about a female Chinese immigrant to Warren, Idaho, who arrived as an indentured servant.

Castroville Japanese Language School
On the coast of California, this small building served as a social, religious, and educational center for the local Japanese community.

Angel Island
A National Historic Landmark that served as the West Coast's "Ellis Island" to hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

Locke and Walnut Grove Chinese and Japanese Historic Districts
Three neighboring Asian-American communities established in the Delta Region of California by immigrant agricultural workers.

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