Today I Learned: Walla Walla’s Population Was Once 16% Chinese!

Walla Walla's historical society is giving tours of downtown this month showing visitors where its Chinatown used to be. Walla Walla used to be home to the largest Chinatown in Eastern Washington!

There was a period right before the Civil War when Walla Walla was poised to be the largest city in the Northwest.

A man named John Mullan tried to make Walla Walla a major railroad town, but he failed.

Anyways, people used to buy supplies in Walla Walla before heading to mining claims north of Boise in the 1880s.

During that time, a sizable Chinese population lived in downtown Walla Walla. They did work the miner's usually left to women (but there were no women). They washed laundry, served food, cut hair and ran small stores. Some were miners or railroad workers.

After a fire, the Chinatown was forced to move but stayed an important part of downtown Walla Walla.

Eventually the immigrants left to find work elsewhere and Walla Walla became a town famous for wheat and onions, not railroads and commerce.