REPOST
Tin How Temple, located at 125 Waverly Place in ChinaTown[1], is the oldest Buddhist (Taoist) temple in the United States. Founded in 1852, it is dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu. The original building was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fires[2] though the image of the goddess, the temple bell and part of the alter were able to be salvaged. The building was rebuilt in 1911, temporarily closed in 1955 and reopened for worship 20 years later. It is located on the top floor of an unassuming office building that houses various ChinaTown associations and is open to the public.
In the 1850s, when Waverly Place was called Pike Street and at the heart of the Barbary Coast[3], Tin How Temple was situated next to two brothels run by the most famous madams of the time: Ah Toy and Belle Cora.
In 1849 Ah Toy was widowed on a voyage from Hong Kong to San Francisco and sold into slavery as a prostitute. She was tall, beautiful and smart, and was able to eventually buy out her contract with help from her wealthier clients. She opened a brothel on Pike and, despite her own experience, she was known to buy young Chinese girls at auction. In 1854, when the first laws against prostitution were passed, Ah Toy was able to remain in business but tired of being harassed by both police and citizens. In 1859, ten years after arriving in the City, Ah Toy retired, married a wealthy merchant, and moved to San Jose, where she died at age 99.
Cora House was established on Pike in 1852 by Arabella “Belle” Ryan and her lover Charles Cora. It soon became the favorite destination of the wealthy and Belle and Cora mingled amongst San Francisco’s elite until 1856 when Cora shot and killed a US Marshall after the Marshall’s wife publicly insulted Belle. Cora’s trial ended in a hung jury, prompting public speculation that Belle had bribed the jurors. Soon thereafter a City Supervisor killed a journalist who exposed his crimes, and outraged citizens formed a Committee of Vigilance[4], the second in less than a decade. Both Cora and the City Supervisor were convicted in public trials and hanged in Portsmouth Square. Belle was allowed to visit Cora before his execution, and the two were married. She went into seclusion after Cora’s hanging, and when she emerged a month later she became a philanthropist, selling Cora House and giving money to children’s charities. She died on November 17, 1862 at the age of 30 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery[5]. In 1916, after a story about her was published, Belle’s body was exhumed and reburied next to that of her husband at Mission Dolores[6].
[1] ChinaTown: story coming October 18th
[2] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849 [3] The Barbary Coast: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3823 [4] Committees of Vigilance: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3195 [5] Calvary Cemetery: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3762 [6] Mission Dolores: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4168
