PhilaPlace

Vietnamese Hung Vuong Association

Vietnamese Hung Vuong Association. Image provided by Historical Society of Pennsylvania

930 South 8th Street

Community organizations in South Philadelphia such as Hung Vuong continue to serve the growing Vietnamese American population in the tri-state area. The first wave of Vietnamese refugees came to Philadelphia following the end of the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Although Vietnamese refugees and, later, immigrants scattered in small settlements across the city, the most visible Southeast Asian communities lay in South Philadelphia: around 5th and Mifflin Streets; around 7th Street, south of Snyder Avenue; and here around the 9th Street Market, where, according to the 2000 census, the Asian population has tripled since 1990, representing about 13 percent of the overall neighborhood population. In addition to Vietnamese, South Philadelphia's Southeast Asian community also includes Cambodians, Laotians, and Hmong. Washington Avenue is the main commercial artery of the Vietnamese community, although it shares space with Mexican, Italian-American and other businesses. Vietnamese Americans have established stores, restaurants, businesses, and community organizations along Washington Avenue and, in the late 1980s, here on 8th Street.

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