Locke, California: Largest Rural Chinatown in US
RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- Locke Rd., Locke, CA
- Directions:
- I-5 exit west onto CR E13, south at river on River Rd., left on Locke Rd. Intersection of Key St.
- Hours:
- Museums open on weekends. Dai Loy Museum F-Su 12-4, (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 916-776-1661
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Small, century-old Chinese founded rural community, maintaining a tight, ramshackle street of period buildings, art shops, and historical museums, including one that was a gambling den.
Roadsideamerica.com Report... [05/21/2012]Visitor Tips and News About Largest Rural Chinatown in US
Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.
Locke is also a good place for motorcycles, whether you're riding or just taking pictures. I do both. Al's Place (also known by its original name, Al the Wop's) has a bar in front and a dining area farther back. Bikers, lic farmers, and tourists all seem to get along just fine. Great steak sandwiches.
[Kurt, 07/14/2015]
We visited Locke, which is a fascinating place with its old buildings and cultural history, but unfortunately Connie's Toilet Garden is no longer a part of the town. We were told by a local owner of a business that after she died, the new owners were concerned about hygiene and removed all of the toilets.
[mulvaney, 03/18/2012]
The toilet garden is not much to see, but the old Chinatown is quite fascinating.
[Lisa Fu, 08/15/2011]Located in Locke, CA, Connie's toilet garden is a collection of planters made from toilets of past Chinese residents. Locke was established in 1915 and is the only existing town in America built exclusively by Chinese until recent years.
[Sharean Oxley, 12/17/2010]A farm community Chinatown. Mostly non-Chinese residents now. Tiny Locke also contains a Chinese School Museum along River Rd., and a Chinese Gambling "Dai Loy" Museum! (F-Su 12-4, 916-776-1661)
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The little main street of Locke offers a number of distractions: a school house and gambling museum, a railroad workers monument, sculpture busts of Confucius and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, and a photo op cutout where you appear to wear a conical hat while riding a dragon.