Chinese cultural museum to reopen in small-town Oregon

JOHN DAY, Ore. — Closed for most of the last 18 months, the Kam Wah Chung museum will celebrate its reopening Saturday following a $1.5 million renovation.

The Kam Wah Chung & Co. building served for decades as the cultural center of Eastern Oregon's Chinese community. The building is two blocks from John Day's main street and houses the intact store and apothecary operated by doctor Ing Hay and businessman Lung On from 1887 until their deaths in the mid-20th century.

Hay administered care to the Chinese gold-mine workers, pioneers, and others from the John Day area and beyond by using traditional Chinese remedies.

Doc Hay and Lung On stayed in Eastern Oregon and remained community leaders long after most of the Chinese community left following the gold rush era. The two-story wood structure had been sealed after Hay's death, but it reopened as a museum in the 1970s.

"What makes the museum such an attraction is that virtually everything inside is just as it was, allowing visitors to step back in time as they walk through the museum," said Dennis Bradley, an Oregon State Parks manager.

Bradley said artifacts, furnishings and the building structure were repaired in the renovation. Other improvements include electrical upgrades and the installation of a mist fire suppression system, high-tech smoke alarm and a security alarm system.