Chinatown Fires There's no historic building, no colorful market, nothing spectacular here yet it's still one of the most significant historic places in this town. It's somewhat similar to Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. In 1852, due to the growth of the sugar industry, the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands. Less than a decade after the arrival of the first large group, however, a large number of them began leaving the plantations to create their own small businesses. Three fourths of them concentrated in the 25 acres of downtown Honolulu that immediately became known as Chinatown, a description that has stuck to this day. Almost all the businesses were in wooden structures, and in 1886 a fire swept though the town. This is the exact spot where the first Chinatown fire started. DETAILS