Archaeology Open House

On Saturday, 15 March from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the public is invited to an Archaeological Open House for the Heinlenville and Nihonmachi site. Entrance to the site is on Taylor Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets. Planned activities include guided tours, presentations from local historians and archaeologists, displays of artifacts and an opportunity to watch the crew members at work.

Groups of ten or more who want to attend the open house are asked to register by emailing annita.waghorn@sonoma.edu and include the estimated time of arrival.

Please note that minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Site History

Heinlenville was constructed in 1887 by German immigrant and local businessman, John Heinlen in partnership with San José’s Chinese leaders after San José's Market Street Chinatown was destroyed by arson. It grew into a thriving community, home to storekeepers, laborers and their families. Heinlenville’s stores, restaurants and boarding houses became an important base for Chinese and Japanese immigrant agricultural workers in the Santa Clara valley.

By the early 1900s, a collection of wood-frame buildings containing both Japanese and Chinese homes and businesses grew along the Sixth Street frontage on the edge of Heinlenville. This area came to be called Nihonmachi or “Japan Town.” San José’s modern Japantown grew from these early beginnings.

Heinlenville declined in the late 1920s, as people moved elsewhere. After 1932 the community’s brick buildings were gradually demolished to make way for the City of San José Corporation Yard. The center of the community, the Ng Shing Gung temple was demolished in 1949. Japantown however, survived the World War II internments and continues to be a thriving community. Despite its demolition, the site of Heinlenville and early Nihonmachi remains important to the Santa Clara Chinese-American and Japanese-American communities.

History of Heinlenville and Nihonmachi (432 KB PDF)

Archaeology

Today, the Heinlenville block bounded by Taylor, Jackson, Sixth and Seventh streets, in San Jose is slated for development. Archaeologists from the Anthropological Studies Center, Sonoma State University and local San Jose historians are working with the Redevelopment Agency, City of San José to unearth selected areas of Heinlenville and early Japantown. We hope to uncover the remains of houses, backyards, restaurants, and stores, as well as those of Heinlenville’s original Ng Shing Gung Temple. The excavation will continue for 10 days from 11 to 20 March 2008, and will help us understand the lives of early Chinese and Japanese settlers in San José.