Canton Alley South

Canton Alley is a narrow, brick-lined corridor cut through the block between King and Weller Streets. In the early twentieth century, this alley served as the hub for Chinese laborers and merchants who lived in the surrounding brick buildings. While the city bustling on the main avenues often ignored them, this alley functioned as a private, self-contained market where residents traded goods and shared meals. One resident, a cook named Charlie Chin, famously fed hundreds of men here during the Great Depression.