THE ALVARADO CHINATOWN

Across the street from Ben Matsumoto's store, (Ben was an early Japanese settler in Alvarado) was a Chinatown.  People used to come from Oakland after work to visit the gambling dens and bordello, which occupied a number of small tightly built shacks along Smith Street.  In the middle of the 1920s, the occupants were sent packing (mostly to Oakland) and the entire area was burned down.