Chinatown Central Plaza

Chinatown Central Plaza is recognizable by the seven-foot-tall, neon-lit pagoda gate that anchors the southern entrance. This space opened in nineteen thirty-eight as the first pedestrian-focused mall in the United States, built because the city’s original Chinatown was demolished to make room for Union Station. Peter Soo Hoo Junior led the effort to create this plaza, convincing business owners to pool their money to purchase the land. It became a permanent home for families displaced by the wrecking ball.