The Bing Kong Tong

The more and more I drive in and around downtown Fresno, the more I find. Interesting correlation. My latest journey takes me down to Fresno’s Chinatown. Yes, we have a Chinatown. If you can orientate yourself while in downtown Fresno Chinatown is located to the west. It’s not a Chinatown that see’s much activity but more of the remains of a Chinatown. There are a few buildings that fit the architectural stereotype but we’ll get into those later. What caught my attention was a building in “China Alley” behind Central Fish Co. It read, “Bing Kong Association.” I looked it up on Google and found this on Wikipedia.

“The Bing Kong Tong (Chinese: 秉公堂; pinyin: Bǐnggōng Táng) was one of the powerful Tongs in San Francisco's Chinatown during the early 20th century.

Known as the Bing Kong Tong Society (or Bing Kung Association in Seattle, Washington), the organization was one of the largest in California when the Hop Sing and Suey Sing Tongs allied against the Bing Kongs, instigating one of the most violent of the Tong wars in the United States. As the gang war continued, the numerous murders caught the attention of the press as the often gruesome slayings were detailed. Eventually an investigation headed by Santa Rosa, California attorney Wallace L. Ware[1], in cooperation with the District Attorney's office, exposed the extent of the Bing Kongs influence throughout the Chinese American populations along the west coast and southwestern United States (as far as the conviction of four members for a Tong murder in Kingman, Arizona). Weakened by the decade long war against the rival Tongs as well as state authorities, the Bing Kongs would eventually merge as a powerful trade union, under the Association; Free Masons although it is suspected by federal and local law enforcement officials to still have remaining ties to organized crime.

The Bing Kong Tong has several branches in the United States including in:

§  Fresno, California - Located at 925 China Alley”

 

It looks like the building had been used recently so my task is to find out what it’s used for. It’s a neat piece of history in our hometown. 

I'll end this post with a whimsical sign I stumbled upon by Hotel Fresno. 

Sound the alarms!

Not a great picture but another cool relic that I found of the Cold War era. This one I found in Fresno's Chinatown. It is an old air raid siren just west of downtown. It is strange to think that the Cold War ended in my lifestime since it seems so distant. Apparently it was very apocalyptic.

I want to make one sound off . . .


"In June 1956 the city installed 27 SD-10 Air Raid sirens around the city. Most were placed in downtown area. The cost for the initial installation was $34,735.00, of which 75% was paid for by federal government financing. This siren was one of the first group that were placed. While the city sirens providedcoverage to county islands with the city limits, Fresno County leaders reserved 10,000 dollars for the program to place sirens in county islands but waited until the effectiveness was tested by the city. The model chosen was the Federal Signal Corp. Model SD-10 (Special Duty 10 horsepower). The sirens first sounded on July 6th and were to be set off on the first Friday of the month thereafter.
The work of the sirens was short lived- by 1961, city leaders felt the community was becoming complacent and would not respond in the event the sirens blew for their intended purpose. In 1973 a new use was realized for the sirens and many were taken down refurbished and replaced for use as natural disaster warning stations. A few were replaced in their original locations others were placed near railroad tracks and city water pumps. The system then worked for a few years, no one that I have talked to remembers hearing them go off recently."

Source: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM5JZB

The Russians Were Coming!

This little advernture has already proved to be quite interesting. Unfortunately the first day of real shooting was very hazy. I'm pretty sure I am going to be getting many of those days since this is the central valley. I already have a collection of photos that I've taken around town but I'll post those as I run out of current shots.

Fallout Shelters! Yes even Fresno has them around. Now the mission has become to find their location and to take pictures of them. Im sure they now have been cleared out and probably house old file cabinets but it would be cool to check them out. 

First picture is one Olive in the entry to the CHP/CAL Trans office and the second is on the intersection of Fulton and Fresno. I've also read that there are alert sirens throughout town. Not sure if they are still operational. 

Cool signs. I'll try to post more stunning imagery as we go. These were just cool signs. 

        

Genesis

As I go through life I begin to appreciate the history of what has led us or myself to this point where we are now. A lot has happened before me and you who is reading this. Of course we all want to make some sort of difference in the world or leave something behind that people will remember us for when we are gone. Of course we are not the first to feel this way... Many people have made a difference in our community or have left relics behind that have probably been looked over or forgotten with time. We'll I've decided to look for these things via my camera and write about them. I hope to find some cool things throughout my town of Fresno and hopefully shed some light on them so that they can be appreciated.

Lets see how this goes . . .