Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 48,231 at the 2020 census. Rowland Heights is in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and represented by the County of Los Angeles (County Board of Supervisors) and is the second largest census designated place in Los Angeles County by area, behind Topanga, and the county's fifth largest CDP by population. The area has a high Taiwanese population and was known as "Little Taipei" in the 1980s and 1990s, when it saw an influx of wealthy immigrants from Taiwan.
A number of corporations, such as Newegg, FedEx, DIRECTV, and Fashion Nova, as well as other technology and import and export businesses, are located in neighboring City of Industry. Many business owners and employees reside in Rowland Heights as well as neighboring Hacienda Heights and Walnut due to their proximity.
History
thumb|left|Rowland Heights sits on land that was originally part of [[Rancho La Puente, a Mexican-era rancho grant.]]
The Mexican land grant Rancho La Puente was granted by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to John Rowland in April 1842, totaling about . Three years later, Governor Pio Pico amended the grant, enlarging it to nearly and adding William Workman as a co-owner. In 1868, after they received their federal land patent the prior year, Rowland and Workman divided Rancho La Puente, with Workman largely taking the western and central portions and Rowland the northern, southern and eastern sections, including what became most of Rowland Heights. The east section of Rowland Heights, between Nogales Street and Brea Canyon Road, falls within Rancho Rincon de la Brea. The ranch of Rowland's grandson, John A. Rowland III was behind the 99 Ranch Market near the corner of Gale Avenue and Nogales Street and the Rowland family owns part of that property today, leasing most of it for commercial use. Additionally, Latinos have maintained a long-standing presence in the lower sections. The city has developed an eclectic suburban "Chinatown", "Little Tokyo", and "Koreatown", mostly in the form of upscale strip malls. There are several large Asian product supermarkets in the area.
Once predominantly Anglo and Hispanic since inception in 1842, this area has gradually become one of the Chinese centers in the greater Los Angeles beginning in the 1990s. Originally formed by the stream of business expansions from Monterey Park (now a heavily mainland Chinese enclave), Rowland Heights has become an area largely populated by Taiwanese. Local Taiwanese refer to Rowland Heights as "Little Taipei", due to its high concentration of Taiwanese restaurants and businesses. It has become the center for Chinese commercial and cultural activity in the southeastern region of the San Gabriel Valley. While Rowland Heights and adjacent areas are still predominantly Waishengren (mainland Chinese refugees who retreated to Taiwan in 1949), in recent years many mainland Chinese emigres have also been increasingly purchasing homes and starting small businesses in the area. Some eateries of Taiwanese cuisine are operated by mainland Chinese. Additionally, there are restaurants geared toward the young and affluent Chinese population.
Possibly owing to Rowland Heights as evolving into the cultural center for the Chinese diaspora, many 49er Taiwanese and a growing number of mainland Chinese now live in the area. In 1992, a connection (Harbor Boulevard) from northern Orange County (mostly to the city of La Habra) opened in Rowland Heights, making Fullerton Road among the heavily traversed roads in the region.
In March 2015, a bullying incident involving Chinese nationals occurred in Rowland Heights. This incident involved Chinese nationals, who assaulted a 16-year-old girl at a restaurant and at a park in Rowland Heights. Later in the month, another incident began at the Honeymee, an ice cream parlor in Yes Plaza on Colima and Fullerton Roads. The perpetrators forced her to clean up ice cream smears and cigarette butts with her hand before taking her to Rowland Heights Park, where she was stripped of her clothing, slapped, burned with cigarettes, beaten, and forced to eat her own hair, which her assailants cut from her head. The attack lasted for over five hours.
Geography
thumb|right|Pathfinder Park
Rowland Heights is located in Los Angeles County adjacent to Orange County. The census definition of the area was created by the Census Bureau for statistical purposes and may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of .
Rowland Heights is bordered by Hacienda Heights to the northwest, Diamond Bar to the east, Brea to the south, La Habra Heights to the southwest, and the City of Industry to the north.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Rowland Heights has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.