ARMENIANS IN CALIFORNIA: THE WAVES OF IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION MOVEMENTS FROM 1880SS TO 1930SS

Abstract

From the 1880s until World War II, Armenians moved to California mostly from the
eastern United States, Western Armenia and partly from Eastern Armenia. After World War I
they moved to California from numerous countries as exiles. Armenians originally lived in the
San Joaquin Valley of Central California, especially in Fresno, Tulare, Stanislaus, and other
counties. However, in the 1920s significant population movements occurred in California
because of economic depression. The local Armenians moved to the northern and southern
parts of the state – San Francisco, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in large numbers.