11 Most Endangered

Little Manila

Year Listed: 2003
Location: Stockton , California
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development, Poor Public Policy, Road Construction

The last of Little Manila

Credit: Little Manila Foundation

Significance

Pushed by poverty and pulled by the lure of agricultural jobs, tens of thousands of Filipinos migrated to the United States and settled in California's San Joaquin Valley in the early 20th century. By 1946, Stockton became home to the largest Filipino community in the U.S., and a compact area of downtown known as Little Manila was alive with restaurants, stores, labor unions, and social organizations that provided services and a sense of community to immigrants isolated by intense segregation. In the 1950s and 1960s, city redevelopment and interstate highway construction devastated the physical and social fabric of Little Manila. Although preservation advocates spurred the City of Stockton to declare Little Manila a local Historic Site in 2000, by that time only three original buildings: the Mariposa Hotel, the Rizal Social Club, and the Filipino Recreation Center, and a strong sense of memory and ownership among the local Filipino community remained.

Updates

Little Manila was in the national spotlight in 2007 when the Black Eyed Peas filmed the video for their song "Bebot" on site. Rapped in Tagalog by Filipino-American group member Apl de Ap, "Bebot" recreated the scene in Little Manila ca. 1936. The same year, the Black Eyed Peas and the Little Manila Foundation received the California Preservation Foundation's President's Award for Excellence for their collaboration to preserve and bring awareness to Filipino-American history in California.

In 2007, what would become a national downturn in the housing and securities market hit Stockton, and the city would soon lead the nation in home foreclosures and other economic difficulties. The Little Manila Foundation struggled to obtain financial backing for their project to rehabilitate the Mariposa Hotel and was sadly forced to halt their plans late in 2007. Currently all three historic buildings in Little Manila are for sale and remain vacant, with little maintenance attention.

The Little Manila Foundation remains a effective advocate for the buildings in Little Manila. They continue their outreach efforts to the community through educational programming, special events, and publications and remain successful in keeping awareness and support for preservation of Little Manila strong.

In 2003, a development proposal included plans to construct a strip mall on the site of the three surviving buildings from Stockton's Little Manila, literally erasing the community off the map. Without funding and a strong commitment to preservation on the part of local government, Filipino Americans faced seeing an important part of their heritage smashed to rubble and hauled off to the landfill.

Shortly after the 11-Most announcement, Stockton City Council approved the boundaries of an eight-block redevelopment area, including Little Manila, and issued a Request for Proposals for master developers. This provided an opportunity for community preservationists to act to save the remnants of Little Manila. The Little Manila Foundation, a group advocating for preservation of Little Manila and promoting awareness of Filipino-American history and culture in Stockton, used a grant from the National Trust's Thorne Intervention Fund and pro-bono professional services to craft a development proposal for the Little Manila site. With two development partners, the Little Manila Foundation purchased the Mariposa Hotel with the intent to use it as the foundation's headquarters and a cultural center and museum.