Site of the largest mass lynching in US history — 19 Chinese immigrants killed by a mob of 500 in October 1871
425 N Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The memorial site and surrounding area are accessible free of charge. The Chinese American Museum at this address has its own admission; check their site for current hours and fees.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level memorial on paved urban street. Fully accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Largest mass lynching in US history · 1871 Los Angeles Chinese Massacre · Anti-Chinese racial violence · Site of planned permanent memorial
The violence on October 24, 1871, began with a dispute between rival Chinese factions that spilled into the street and drew the attention of a white bystander, who was shot and killed when he intervened. Within hours, a mob estimated at 500 people — a substantial fraction of Los Angeles's total population of roughly 5,700 at the time — moved through Calle de los Negros attacking and killing residents of the Chinese quarter.
The final count reached 19 dead, with later counts sometimes citing 18 (the discrepancy reflects uncertainty over one victim's age and identity). The dead included a physician and a 15-year-old boy. Victims were shot, hanged, and mutilated. At least some were hanged from a wooden awning over a downtown corral. Looters stripped the bodies of jewelry, clothing, and cash estimated at several thousand dollars.
Los Angeles County held 150 men for questioning. A grand jury indicted 25. Of those, eight were convicted of manslaughter in November 1871 — the fastest murder prosecution in California history at that point. All eight served less than a year before the California Supreme Court reversed the convictions on a procedural ground: the indictment had been improperly worded under state law. No one spent more than a few months in prison.
For most of the 20th century, the massacre was rarely taught in California schools and minimized in popular histories of Los Angeles. The Chinese American Museum, located at 425 N. Los Angeles Street near the massacre site, has worked to restore the event to public memory. The museum's 1871 Project (camla.org/la1871) documents the massacre in detail and advocates for a permanent memorial on the block where it occurred. Annual commemorations are held on or near October 24.
Sources
Unlike many True Crime Sites that carry paranormal traditions layered on top of their historical record, the Chinese Massacre Memorial Site's dark tourism pull is primarily historical rather than supernatural. No established haunting lore or documented paranormal investigation tradition appears in the record for this specific address.
The absence of a ghost legend does not diminish the site's weight. Nineteen people were killed here in 1871, their murderers went free, and the event was suppressed in civic memory for more than a century. The Chinese American Museum's annual October 24 commemorations draw attention to that suppression as part of the site's ongoing significance.
Visitors who arrive expecting a haunted location in the conventional sense will find instead one of the most historically substantiated examples of racial mass violence in the American West — documented in grand jury records, newspaper coverage, and the subsequent court proceedings. That record is the site's primary offering.
Where this legend is told
The 400 block of North Los Angeles Street marks the approximate location of Calle de los Negros, where the 1871 massacre occurred. The Chinese American Museum at 425 N Los Angeles St operates nearby and hosts annual commemorations of the event. A permanent memorial is planned for the block. The site is walkable from the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument.
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