Waverly Place is an easy alley to walk past. But on the top floor of one of its buildings sits the Tin How Temple, the oldest surviving Taoist temple in San Francisco's Chinatown and one of the oldest still-operating Chinese temples in the United States.

The goddess of the sea

The temple is dedicated to Mazu, known in Cantonese as Tin How, or Empress of Heaven. FoundSF describes her as a guardian of fishermen, seafarers and women in distress, a fitting patron for immigrants who crossed the Pacific. Its Chinese name is so tied to the alley that Waverly Place is known in Chinese as Tin How Temple Street.

A Gold Rush history

The temple is said to have been founded around 1852 or 1853, reportedly on its current site, by Day Ju, one of the first Chinese people to arrive in San Francisco. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the building, but the image of the goddess, the temple bell and part of the altar survived.

By then the site belonged to the Sue Hing Benevolent Association, which reopened the temple in 1910 on the top floor of a new four-story building. The temple closed in 1955 and reopened on May 4, 1975, after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 helped revitalize Chinatown. Its centennial in that building was celebrated in May 2010 with a procession, dances and fireworks.

What it's like inside

FoundSF describes clouds of incense smoke, carved figures and altars with fruit offerings, and an atmosphere that "hasn't changed much since earliest Chinese immigrants worshipped here in the days of the Gold Rush."

Visiting

  • Where: 125 Waverly Place, between Washington and Clay streets, just west of Grant Avenue. The temple is on the top floor.
  • When: Open daily during daytime hours. Published hours vary, with FoundSF listing 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wikipedia listing 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., so go earlier in the day to be safe.
  • Cost: Admission is free, and donations are welcome.
  • Etiquette: This is an active place of worship. Photography is not allowed inside.

Don't confuse it with the Ma-Tsu Temple of U.S.A., a separate temple to the same goddess two blocks north that was founded in 1986.