Waverly Jong (played by Tamlyn Tomita in the 1993 film) in Joy Luck Club was named after this colorful street of painted balconies and lived here with her two brothers, above a bakery.
Tin How Temple, on your left, is one of the oldest Taoist temples in United States. In fact, the Chinese name for Waverly Place is Tin How Temple Street. It was founded by the Cantonese clans association in 1852. Although the building you see today had to be rebuilt after the 1906 fire the altar and the temple bell miraculously survived. It is dedicated to Mazu, the Sea Goddess, who helps has been saving seafarers ever since her death and deification in the 10th century. You may go up the stairs to the third floor and ask to be admitted to the temple. If you do, make sure to go out on the balcony as well.
Waverly place was not always as serene as it is now. To protect themselves from a hostile government Chinese immigrants began to form Benevolent Societies (or Tongs) in the 1860s. Look around you - many of the loveliest buildings you see were built by tongs. By mid-1860s some 30 tongs controlled all crime in Chinatown.
One profitable business area was the sale of enslaved girls that could be purchased in China quite cheaply, or even kidnapped, but fetched a very high price in San Francisco. Here their life expectancy was approximately 5 years. Many did not live to their teens, and almost none made it to 20.
The Chinese Six Companies attempted to stop this trade, but were not successful (they also failed at the time in decreasing opium smoking, gangs, and immigration from China, but shined in this century at fundraising for victims of natural disasters).
During the 1870s and 80s the number of female slaves in Chinatown grew to almost 2,000 forming over 70% of total Chinese female population. Some of these (numbers vary from 20 to 2,000) were rescued by Donaldina Cameron and the Presbyterian House.
In 1879 50 men from two tongs fought here over the ownership of an enslaved girl leaving five dead and eleven wounded.
More simple killings were commonplace. A man was once decapitated at a nearby corner with not one person on the thronged Grant street seeing anything, even the old street seller whose entire back was soaked with the blood, which explains the lax law enforcement.
Of course, opium was another thriving area of business. By 1880s there may have been 300 opium dens in San Francisco. Some say that not all of them were dug out after the 1906 earthquake. The earthquake, fire, and subsequent bribery trials of Mayor Schmitz and political boss Abe Ruef undermined the influence of tongs until 1970s.
Check out Bruce Lee's Warrior series (2019) for a breathless look at early Chinatown.