Isleton's Japantown

Title

Isleton's Japantown

Description

The Chinese community had settled in Isleton during the 1870s to help work on the levee project that converted the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from a swamp into fertile farmland. After the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law barring Chinese laborers from coming to America Japanese laborers started to come over in their place. The Japanese laborers would work in the local canneries in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta area as it was experiencing a surge in agriculture in the late 19th century. Isleton's Japantown was situated right by the Chinatown that had settled in the area in 1878 before the arrival of the Japanese. Initially the two communities lived south of Isleton near Jackson Slough and the town's city hall. By 1910 Japanese and Chinese workers made up over 90% of the workforce in the canneries.

However, a fire in 1915 destroyed both the Chinatown and Japantown leaving many homeless and without any means of support. With the help of John Gardiner who was the president of the Bank of Isleton allowed the Chinese and Japanese to relocate to the area along the town's Main Street between E Street and H Street. The Chinatown occupied the area between E and F Street with the Japantown being between F and H Street. During the early 1900s many of the Chinese and Japanese men worked at any of the local canneries and the majority of establishments in the China and Japan towns catered to their needs with gambling halls, saloons and brothels. On Memorial Day of 1926 a woman in Isleton's Chinatown left her milk to boil on a kerosene stove and when the milk started to boil over she had tried to put it out with a hand cloth that only served to start a fire that quickly spread throughout the area. Due to the holiday the local fire brigade was away on a picnic and the fire destroyed over 110 buildings in the area. The two communities quickly rebuilt and within the next year the China and Japantowns were as they once were with many of the buildings built apart and with metal sheet roofs to prevent fires. The gambling halls of the Chinatown and Japantown were a popular destination for many workers who would come into town to spend their hard earned wages in the hope of winning big. Due to segregation both Chinese and Japanese children had to attend the local Oriental School that was located on the corner of E and Union Streets. Children of migrant workers would attend the Migrant School located across the street from the Oriental School.

The Japanese community continued to thrive until the start of World War II when all the Japanese-Americans were rounded up for the internment. During the war the area of Japantown became occupied by Filipino and Mexican workers who started working in the canneries. After the War some Japanese came back to Isleton but many decided to settle elsewhere as they had lost their homes and businesses during the internment. As the years went on the canneries started to close down and many of the Japanese community of Isleton left. Nowadays Isleton is a sparsely populated town with the 2010 census listing a population of 804 yet during its heyday in the early 1900s the China and Japantowns boasted a population of over 1500. Many of the buildings built after the 1926 fire can still be found along Isleton's Main Street and in 1991 the area was designated a historic site for the National Register of Historic Places. Isleton's Japantown is unique in that it has retained the same buildings for over ninety years and gives a glimpse into a Japantown during its peak years.