ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER says:
TEXT BY WALLYG
The Wo Fat Building, at the corner of Maunakea Street and Hotel Street, housed Honolulu's oldest, and among its most popular, restaurant. Mr. Wo Fat, a baker, opened the original establishment 1882, and it was one of the first structures erected after the 1900 Chinatown fire, but the present pink building with its pagoda-style roof dates from 1936. During World War II, Wo Hop was famous for issuing free dining coupons to servicemen that were still being honored decades later.
The Chinatown Historic District is bound by Honolulu Harbor, Nu'uana Stream, Nu'uana Avnue, and Beretania Street. Hawaii's first Chinese arrived on merchant ships in 1789, followed by largest a large influx of laborers imported in the 1850's to work on the sugar plantations. By 1882, the Chinese in Hawaii formed 49% of the total plantation working force, and for a time outnumbered Caucasians on the island. By 1884, the Chinese population in Honolulu reached 5,000, and as their contracts expired, they gravitated towards downtown to build restaurants and herb shops and develop a flourishing opium trade. Chinatown. The area was destroyed in two successive fires in 1886 and 1900, the latter of which was started after an attempt to burn a building infected with Bubonic plague got out of control. Despite divisive political sentiment against Chinese immigration, Chinatown was rebuilt at the turn of the century. After World War II the area fell into disrepair and became a red-light district until recent revitalization plans have breathed new life into the historical neighborhood.
Chinatown Historic District National Register #73000658 (1973)
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