Riverside's History

Located just behind UCR Sweeney Art Gallery and California Museum of Photography is Riverside's original Chinatown established in the early 1880s. When the thriving bachelor community was forced out of downtown due to anti-immigrant sentiment, they eventually migrated west to a site on Brockton and Tequesquite Avenues. This location was excavated in 1985, providing remarkable artifacts as well as opening a window to a key period in Riverside's development. A third, smaller Chinese community was formed away from these sites at Magnolia and Adams. See Asian American Riverside.

Last month, The Grier Pavilion was inaugurated atop the Mayor's Office in downtown Riverside featuring short historical videos on prior residents of Riverside, including Chinatown's George Wong. To learn more, check out the exhibit: A Sense of Place - Remembering Riverside's Chinatowns at Sweeney Art Gallery running in conjunction with Absurb Recreation: New Art from China, July 26 - October 4. Also, on YouTube there are profiles of other important Riverside civil rights luminaries such as Johnny Sotelo, Oscar Medina, Dr. Barnett and Eleanor Jean Grier, Rupert and Jeannette Costo, among others.