An Urban Legend has resurfaced

[conlor]

An urban legend has resurfaced



Gary Kazanjian / APA SEARCH: Kathy Omachi, vice president of Chinatown Revitalization Inc., shines her flashlight in a basement in Fresno’s old Chinatown. Using ground-penetrating radar, her firm is helping archaeologists find any passages.


[COLOR=#333333! important]A dark crawl space may be evidence of vast underground tunnels in Fresno's old Chinatown. The finding creates a buzz -- and a backlash.[/color]
Karana Hattersley-Drayton was leading a team of archaeologists through one of the slew of boarded-up buildings in Chinatown, an enclave long abandoned by the people who gave the area its name more than a century ago.

They were there to recover antique ceramics left behind by the former owners of what had been a restaurant and home. Wearing masks to shield against the stench of human waste from squatters and a sewage break, the team descended into the basement.

They soon found a cache of rare bowls and plates under the wooden staircase.

Then came the unexpected discovery. The group spotted a dark crawl space obscured by boards on the basement's east wall. Was this evidence of one of Fresno's most enduring urban legends?

Tunnels in Fresno's Chinatown were rumored to have been so extensive that denizens could traverse the neighborhood without ever seeing daylight. One tunnel was said to have extended under the dividing railway tracks so that men from the white side of town could reach Chinatown speak-easies undetected.

"It's part of our lore," said Hattersley-Drayton, Fresno's historic-preservation officer.

Since her team reported its find in August, interest in the "underground Chinatown" has exploded. The city is now using ground-penetrating radar in the adjacent streets, trying to find underground connections between basements with walled-off passageways.

Local groups have led tours, guiding visitors to the basement of a barbershop where mysterious doorways are sealed with concrete. An opportunistic shop owner raised the price of flashlights that day from $1 to $15 each.

But the newfound excitement has sparked a backlash. Experts on Chinese American history say Chinatowns across the nation -- including in many California cities -- have always been rumored to have tunnels, but no proof exists that they were anything more than connected basements. They say the hype surrounding the legends revives misconceptions that fanned xenophobia in earlier times.

Oral histories and newspaper accounts from the early 20th century include clues that Los Angeles' original Chinatown (where Union Station now stands) was connected by a web of tunnels leading to brothels, speak-easies and other illicit businesses. But when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority dug up the area in 1990 for subway construction, it found artifacts but no tunnels.

Some historians say the tunnel tales originated from a misunderstanding of Chinese culture, and overt prejudice.

"The 19th century was an extremely racist climate," said Phil Choy, past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America and a skeptic of tunnel lore. "There had always been an attempt to remove the Chinese. You had this population of undesirables. The more mysterious they make us, the better."

When Suellen Cheng, a senior curator at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, first read a report about the Fresno search, she said to herself, "Here we go again."

Cheng used to give guided tours of L.A.'s Chinatown and was peppered with questions about tunnels. She took the tourists down a dark and dusty corridor, allowing the onlookers to envision all sorts of illicit activities. Then Cheng would reveal the truth: The structure had been built by the state in the 1970s to hold utility lines.

"They'd tell me I had ruined their day after saying that," Cheng said.

But Fresno is different because the tunnel tales are more than just rumors. Over the last few months, a handful of old-timers have stepped forward to say they saw the tunnels in action. Their oral histories have given a sense of urgency to the city's archaeological effort.



When Fresno's Chinatown was founded in 1872, it housed many of the workers who helped build California's railroads. By the turn of the 20th century, the community had expanded to several city blocks and myriad storefronts housing social associations, farm contractors, general goods stores, tailors and druggists. Chinese accounted for nearly 10% of the city's 12,000 residents.

But by World War II, Chinatown's population began to wane significantly as residents moved to growing suburbs. Many of the buildings that remained were boarded up and have the look of an Edward Hopper painting. The old Chinese social halls have broken windows. The oral history of the area diminished as older residents died.

Interest in the district was sparked a few years ago when workers replacing water pipes in the area came across an old underground passage containing a table and some chairs.

But the town really started talking after Hattersley-Drayton's team started using the radar. Residents with stories of underground Chinatown came forward.


An urban legend has resurfaced - Los Angeles Times

[Woodmonkey]

How interesting. I've seen some tunnels under Seattle and would love to see these.