The Luck of Third Street: Archaeology of Chinatown, San Bernardino, California

In 2001, field excavations were completed at the site of the San Bernardino, California, Chinatown, yielding about 10,000 items. Twenty-one discrete features were excavated, dating from about 1880 to the 1930s. Seventeen of these features reflected the history of Chinatown. Privy 1035, associated with a gambling hall at 19 Third Street, contained more than 6,800 individual items, representing diverse aspects of Chinatown life. Gambling activities in the early-20th century were represented by an abundance of artifacts, including a cache of more than 1,300 Asian coins, the largest ever found on an excavation in North America. Discussions of gambling artifacts and culture document the practice of this traditional, but often sensationalized, pastime of the Overseas Chinese.