Kam Wah Chung Museum, John Day, Oregon
September 17, 2010



















This is the "main room", the table on the side is used for gambling at night.

The Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum, also known as Kam Wah Chung Company Building, is a National Historic Landmark in John Day, Oregon that preserves early Chinese culture in Oregon. First built in 1876 as a trading post along the Dalles Military Road it later became the center of the Chinese community in John Day as a store and apothecary run by Ing Hay (known also as "Doc Hay") and Lung On, Chinese immigrants from Guangdong. The building remained abandoned after Ing Hay died in 1952. He asked that the building be deeded to the city of John Day with the provision it be turned into a museum. His wish, and the ownership of the building, were forgotten until 1967. While surveying for a new park the city discovered its ownership of the building and began to restore it as it was in the 1940s. Today the Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum contains one of the most extensive collections of materials from the century-long influx of Chinese immigrants in the American West. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2005.

Apothecary (Chinese herbs)










This is a guided tour (45 minutes)









The merchandise storage room










"General store" doubled as a place to worship










This is Ing Hay's bedroom, there is a cleaver on the side table as a protection










An old calligraphy on the wall





















Lung On rented this bunk, it sleeps 4 (believe it or not)





















General "office room"










The kitchen

 

These are the original items left since 1948

The dining room










The offering for the Kitchen God, a Chinese tradition





Photography note: No flash photography,
I had to push the ISO to 3200, no tripod allowed.


(c) Yongkie Hurd
9/22/2010