1st Chinese Immigrants Recorded in NY

During Mid-1800’s the cities first Chinese immigrants were recorded. In a census taken in 1855, there were recorded 38 Chinese in New York, all males. The general occupation of these Chinese immigrants was sailors, boarding house owners, proprietors of small businesses, peddlers, and cigar makers.

Surprisingly some of the Chinese immigrants married Irish women and became American citizens. By 1873, the New York Times reported around 500 Chinese Immigrants, most of them men, half of which moved to what we now call Chinatown.