Chinese Memorial Pavilion

Pay tribute to Asians who helped build critical railroads and strong communities. The Chinese Pavilion was built in 1985-86 and stands in front of the Riverside Central Library, at the corner of Mission Inn Avenue and Orange Street. It was built in honor of the Chinese settlers who came to Riverside in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Pavilion is located within a block or two of the cluster of Chinese businesses that constituted Riverside's "first" Chinatown. Ironically, this neighborhood was relocated to Tequesquite Arroyo- the "second" Chinatown- on the rural outskirts of town in 1885 after a suspicious fire swept through it, destroying Chinese businesses.