Chinese Fishing Monument

Location

At the corner of Anchorage Lane and Talbot St.

Significance

The site of the Chinese Fishing Village

Status of the Marker

Dedication on June 2, 2012

Official Announcement for Dedication

La Playa Trail Association is happy to announce the completion of another commemorative marker along the La Playa Trail. Located at the foot of Talbot Street at Anchorage Lane, adjacent to San Diego Yacht Club, the monument sits near the site where the Chinese had a fishing village from around 1860 to the early 1890's. A plaque within the monument states "The village had ten shanties, drying racks and salting tanks. At the shore was a shipbuilding facility where Chinese junks were constructed in traditional design from China".

The Sun Yun Lee, depicted in the center of the monument was considered to be the finest junk built in all California and was launched from the site in 1884. It was built of redwood with masts and rudders made of ironwood brought from China. The Sun Yun Lee and other junks were sailed south along the Baja California coast to gather abalone. The fresh fish needs of all of San Diego were supplied by the Chinese .There was another Chinese village at the foot of Third Avenue near Chinatown where the abalone junks were anchored. Local merchants shipped marine products out of the Pacific Mail and Steamship Wharf at Fifth Avenue.

By the early 1890's the industry had to be abandoned due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws. The new monument commemorates the significant pioneer contributions of the 19th Century Chinese fishing and shipbuilding community of San Diego.

The monument consists of several massive boulders surrounding a centerpiece featuring the Sun Yun Lee. It includes a bench where visitors can enjoy a view of the bay, meet friends, or rest and relax after a walk along the bay. It has taken several years of planning, fund raising, and ensuring broad support for the project to reach the point of completion.

Klonie Kunzel, President of the La Playa Trail Association invites the public to attend a dedication ceremony at five o clock in the afternoon on Saturday June 2, 2012. Murray Lee, one of the principal Board members behind the monument project, has planned an exciting dedication ceremony complete with Chinese Lion Dancers. Mr. Lee is a prominent historian, curator of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, and recently authored the book In Search of Gold Mountain, A History of the Chinese in San Diego.

The La Playa Trail Association was formed in 2005 with a goal of preserving, restoring, enhancing, promoting, commemorating, and educating the public about the La Playa Trail and the associated historic sites located between Ballast Point and the north side of Presidio Park. The Trail is the oldest European trail along the Pacific Coast and was in use prior to that by the native Kumeyaay. Helen Hunt Jackson once remarked that the road to the lighthouse - the La Playa Trail - was the most beautiful drive in America. The Board of La Playa Trail Association is pleased to enhance that beauty and preserve the history of life along the Trail with this striking monument.

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