In the 1860s, the Chinese population in Los Angeles was small but growing. This was thanks to the Southern Pacific Railroad hiring them for incredibly low paying railroad labor.

They settled in Olvera, specifically in a dirt alley known as Calle de Los Negros. It was one of the most dangerous places in America, at the time. Calle de Los Negros occupied a fairly small stretch of land 50 feet in width by 500 feet in length.

In March of 1855, The Los Angeles Star recorded 5 homicides in a 24 hour period.

In 1871, a tragedy descended on the Chinese people living there. A mob made up of 500 white Angelenos (one-tenth of the population at the time) marched into Chinatown to retaliate to the death of a white Rancher. That rancher died because he got caught in the crossfire of a Chinese gang war.

The angry mob asked no questions of gang relations and murdered 19 Chinese men and boys. This event came to be known as the Chinese Massacre.

In 1877, Calle de los Negros was renamed to Los Angeles Street.

The Chinese residents didn’t really have anywhere to go and by 1880, their population had grown from 234 to 1169. So they moved eastward of Los Angeles Street (Calle de Los Negros) to Alameda. They would later be moved again to make room for Union Station.