On Leong Chinese Merchants Association

The Chicago landmark On Leong Merchants Association Building, now Pui Tak Center.

The On Leong Chinese Merchants Association (Chinese: 安良工商會; pinyin: Ānliáng Gōngshāng Huì) or simply Chinese Merchants Association, formerly known as the On Leong Tong (Chinese: 安良堂; pinyin: Ānliáng Táng), was a tong society operating out of its territory in Mott Street in New York's Chinatown. Established in November 1893, the tong fought a violent war for control of Chinatown's rackets and businesses with the Hip Sing Tong. In recent years the Tong has been linked to the Ghost Shadows street gang led by Wing Yeung Chan. Currently, there are over 30,000 registered On Leong members, the majority of them with a commercial or industrial background.^[1]

Branches

On Leong Chinese Merchants Association building in Baltimore

The On Leong Chinese Merchants Association has 23 branches in the United States including in:

• Baltimore, Maryland - 325 Park Avenue
• Boston, Massachusetts - 20 Hudson Street
• Chicago, Illinois - 218 W 22nd Place
• Cleveland, Ohio - 2150 Rockwell Avenue
• Detroit, Michigan - 415 Peterboro Street
• Houston, Texas - 6360 Corporate Drive
• Kenner, Louisiana - 3201 Georgia Avenue
• Miami, Florida - 1750 W Flagler Street
• Minneapolis, Minnesota - 318 S 3rd Street (defunct)
• New Orleans, Louisiana - 530 Bourbon Street (relocated to Kenner)
• New York City, New York - 83 Mott Street
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 911 Race Street
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 522 3rd Avenue (defunct)
• Providence, Rhode Island - 34 Pontiac Avenue
• Richmond, Virginia - 506 W Broad Street (defunct)
• St. Louis, Missouri - 3608 S Grand Boulevard (defunct)
• Washington, D.C. - 606 H Street NW

References

Further reading

• Denny Lee, Years of the Dragons Information on the history of Ghost Shadows, New York Times, May 11, 2003.
• MacIllwain, Jeffrey Scott. Organizing Crime in Chinatown: race and racketeering in New York City, 1890-1910. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004. ISBN 0-7864-1626-2

External links

• On Leong Chinese Merchants Association website