Historical Marker · No. 802
Site of Ah Louis Store
San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County · California
Erected by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the San Luis Obispo County Historical Society and the sons and daughters of Ah Louis, 1965
The bronze says site. The building is still here, two storeys of brick from Wong On's own kilns, raised in 1885 over the wooden store he opened in 1874. He traded as Ah Louis, held the labour contracts for the Cuesta Grade tunnels, and ran a counter that doubled as bank, post office and hiring hall for a Chinatown now down to four buildings. His son Howard kept the store until the late 1990s and hung a bronze bell beside it on his ninety-sixth birthday.
What the plaque says
Site of Ah Louis Store Here in 1874 was established Ah Louis' Store. The first Chinese store in the county, it sold general merchandise and herbs and served as a bank, counting house, and post office for the numerous Chinese coolies who dug the eight tunnels through the mountains of Cuesta for the Southern Pacific Railroad, 1884 to 1894. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 802 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the San Luis Obispo County Historical Society and the sons and daughters of Ah Louis, August 21, 1965.
Where it stands
35.28154, -120.66417 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa — steps away
- Dallidet Adobe — 0.4 mi
- Santa Margarita Asistencia (Site of) — 8.1 mi
- Morro Rock — 13 mi