14. Kam Wah Chung, John Day, 1909

This photograph shows John Day’s Chinatown in 1909. The large structure at the left is the Kam Wah Chung building, which served as Chinatown’s social center for several decades.

Chinese miners probably settled in John Day soon after the establishment of the town in the early 1860s, though the largest Chinese settlement in eastern Oregon was in Canyon City until 1885. In February of that year Canyon City’s Chinatown was burned down, probably by arsonists. Local authorities refused to let the Chinese rebuild, so many moved down the creek to John Day, where they added to the town’s established Chinese community. During its peak, John Day had the largest Chinese community in eastern Oregon, numbering between five and six hundred residents.