Chinatown, Deadwood, South Dakota
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Chinatown was a historic ethnic enclave in Deadwood, located in Lawrence County in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It became the largest Chinatown of any city east of San Francisco at the time.[1] Notable figures of Deadwood's Chinatown include Fee Lee Wong, who made his way to the Black Hills during the 1870s for the Gold Rush.[2] There are many cultural and economic differences that made the Chinese community distinct such as success with laundry establishments and the structure of Chinese families.[3] The Chinese community is no longer there like it was at the end of the 19th century.[4] Archeological excavations have tried to document and identify Deadwood's Chinatown artifacts and structures, in order to gain a better idea of what that occurred in these areas. These efforts will help better understand what the lives of Chinese members in South Dakota was like.[5]