Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Road Trip - Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark

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Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark
Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark
If you haven’t seen this place, you need to go. Originally a Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence, Kam Wah Chung gives you an incomparable glimpse into the past. This remarkable site, a National Historic Landmark, is located in the town of John Day, and includes a museum and a separate interpretive center. The museum was built in the 1870s, possibly as a trading post. This tiny, unassuming building became home to two Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On. Both became locally famous: Lung On as a general store proprietor and businessman, and “Doc” Hay as a practitioner of herbal medicine. For 50-some years, the building was a social, medical and religious center for the Oregon’s Chinese community. (Source: Oregon State Parks: Kam Wah Chung website)