Plum Alley

Plum Alley was the heart of Salt Lake City‘s Chinese community.  In the early 20th century, Chinese groceries, merchants, laundries and restaurants congregated along this street.  Chinese immigrants first arrived in Utah in the late 1860s as laborers on the transcontinental railroad.  Some of these laborers stayed in Utah to work in mining camps.  By the early 1900s, most of Utah’s Chinese immigrants moved to urban areas where some opened small businesses.  Although Salt Lake City’s Chinese residents mostly loved in their own micro-community, they did participate in some local traditions.  A 200-foot long Chinese dragon was a regular feature of Salt Lake City’s New Year’s Day parade in the 1890s.

Other Salt Lake City Tour plaques are listed here.