Location 23
Heung Shan
ADDRESS
120 N. Hunter St.
Stockton, Ca 95202
HISTORY
The two-story brick building known as Heung Shan temple was built in 1882. It replaced the original one-story wooden temple built in 1852 and destroyed by fire. The temple was used as a place of worship and as an area to house the sick and the dying as there were no medical facilities for Chinese in those early days.
By 1923, all of the temple artifacts were moved to the Washington Street Chinatown. The temple there was located on the second floor at 134 ½ E. Washington Street. During the 1960s when Chinatown on the Washington street was torn down to make way for the crosstown freeway, all artifacts were sent to the San Francisco Chinatown. Unfortunately, a beautiful 3 x 4 ft. marble slab with the names of those that donated to the building of the Hunter Street temple was lost during transit.
Used as a rooming house from 1925 to 1950, the building was frequently referred to as the Hansen Rooms. It’s likely that the building was refaced, the third story added, and the second story balcony removed some time after 1950. We have local artist Ralph Yardley to thank for the sketch that depicts this temple in its heyday.