Union Station Constructed

In the 1930s, Los Angeles city officials and railroad company executives reached an agreement to build a large central train station called Union Station. Perceived as a decrepit slum, Chinatown was the site selected for the future Union Station. The city thus believed it could kill two birds with one stone: demolish a racialized slum, and build a shiny new monument to the city's bright future. It was only through the actions of Chinatown neighborhood elites that the project was delayed for a year, and new land was purchased to create a "New Chinatown."