Chinatown

Despite Cleveland being one of the largest cities in the US 100 years ago, not that many Chinese elected to immigrate to NE Ohio  and so Chinatown wasn't that large. It occupied a stretch of Rockwell Ave between E 24th & E 26th but only the north side. There were maybe two or three restaurants and a few other storefronts including a grocery store of sorts. The south side of the street across from Chinatown was a trucking depot. The surrounding neighborhood was largely industrial. In general, you'll find Chinatown locations in the US to be in the inner city near downtown; with limited incomes immigrants tend to rely on public transportation.

When my family lived in Chinatown, there were a few other families with children my age. We all eventually moved out of Chinatown and we lost track of those who didn't eventually join the Chinese church that was founded during the late 60's. The families who did included the Chan's: an older sister named Betty close to my sister's age, and a younger brother two years my senior named Gus who is now well known having become a sports photographer for the Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer. I find this ironic, because there's a Barry Chin who's a well known sports photographer in the Boston area. I occasionally get FB messages asking if I'm him. The other family that we stayed in contact with after we left Chinatown were the Fong's. There were seven kids which included: Henry was a year ahead, but two years older, a girl named Pam who was my age, and the youngest was a girl named Vicky. My mother began working as a seamstress making parochial school uniforms in a factory downtown and I was left with the Fong family who babysat me. While I got along with Pam & Vicky, the highlight of the day was getting a chance to play with Henry after he got home until my sister (seven years older and in junior high) picked me up and took me home.  

There was a diner a block north on Superior Ave. called Rebel's. For twenty five cents, you could get a sufficiently huge greasy bag of French fries that would feed a group of hungry Chinese kids. That was pretty much the only potential source of food for the entire neighborhood. Given that I was a toddler at the time, I have otherwise only vague memories about my time in Chinatown.