Chinese Camp was founded sometime in late 1849 to early 1850 by Chinese miners who were forced out of Campo Salvado, which was located about three and a half miles from where Woods Creek emptied into the Tuolumne River (before the area was flooded by the Don Pedro Dam). The settlement, briefly known as Camp Washington, was founded at the junction of a number of trails leading to the nearby mining centers. Many whites also settled in Chinese Camp. By September 1950, the Mining Laws of Chinese Camp were adopted. At its height, Chinese Camp was believed to have a population as high as 5,000 (one source puts it at 8,500 in the 1880s).

Between 1850 and 1856, Chinese Camp grew into a commercial center. Aqueducts (ditches) carrying water to the town were established in the early 1850s alomg with a post office in 1854. At some point, a Chinese commercial center arose on the north side of Main St to the west of then Webster Ave (now Red Hills Rd). In June 1856, a fire destroyed part of Chinese Camp, which soon rebuilt with brick, stone, and iron. In October of the same year, a Tong War broke out between two rival Chinese Associations (Yan-Wo Tong and Sam-Yap Tong) in a level field outside of town near Crimea House. Most of the white residents came along to watch and cheer this planned battle for honor. There were four dead and four wounded when the lawmen broke up the battle.

Since the early 1850s, Chinese Camp was a depot for stagecoaches and freight runs. The town was on the Stockton-Sonora route. A road began to be built heading southeast of Chinese Camp and towards the old mining town of Big Oak Flat higher up in the mountains. The road passed through the larger mining town of Jacksonville (now submerged under the waters of Don Pedro Reservoir), climbed over the steep Priest Grade and reached Big Oak Flat in 1856. Coaches from Sonora and Stockton would stop at Chinese Camp before making the journey to Big Oak Flats. By 1860, the road extended past the mining towns of First Garrote (present-day Groveland) to Second Garrote. By 1874, the part of the road descending from Tamarack Flat to the floor of the Yosemite Valley was completed. In the 1870s, there was a stage run to Yosemite that stopped at Chinese Camp, which continued until automobiles were admitted into Yosemite Valey in 1914.

With labor-intensive work such as road building ending and the local mines long stopped turning a profit, the Chinese population departed Chinese Camp. Most were gone by 1918 with the last departing in 1925. The town lost much of its white population as well and became a small ranching community in the 1920s and 1930s. The Chinese business area has long since vanished and the old buildings in the main town's business district has been left unattended and decaying. Two plans to restore the historical buildings on Main St were proposed around 2012 and 2015 and both have sadly come to naught. The Chinese Camp Old Town is currently overgrown with invasive Ailanthus trees ("Trees of Heaven" to the Chinese.)

Tuolumne County
Population: 126 (2010 census)
Elevation: 1,273 ft.

Dates visited: May 17, 2019; May 24, 2019; July 5, 2019; and October 11, 2019

A. Gross Saloon

More commonly known as the Wheelock House, the A. Gross Saloon was first assessed in 1873. Samuel Wheelock owned the wooden building in 1891, but his own saloon was across the street.

[Picture of A. Gross Saloon]

Morris House

Built around 1890, this house stood on the property that wa once Chinese Camp Livery Stable before it was moved across Main St. This house is not known by any name, though it was likely owned by the Morris family.

[Picture of Morris House]

Robert Orford Store

Built around 1856, the Robert Orford Store later became known as Fandango House. Frank Losano's "Fandango House" actually stood next door to the east where the lean-to garage can be seen on the left.

[Picture of Robert Orford Store]

[Picture of eave bracket]

New York Store

Better known by its common name of the Rosenbloom Store, the New York Store was built around 1858. In 1920, the store was converted into a blacksmith shop and later re-purposed as an auto repair garage. The west wall looks to have collapsed in recent years.

[Picture of New York Store]

Mrs. Elizabeth Fox Boarding House

The building is believed to have been built in the nearby village of Montezuma around 1865. Montezuma was burned down and abandoned in 1866. The house was moved to the Chinese Camp location around 1905. The location had been the site where Miller & Comapny conducted their express and banking business. That brick building seems to have disappeared by 1891.

[Picture of the Fox Boarding House]

[Picture of eave bracket]

Remains of Masonic Lodge

The remains of the Masonic Lodge can be seen around a tin garage at the southwest corner of Main St and Solinsky Alley. The stone building was constructed in the 1850s and served the George Washington Lodge #62, Free and Accepted Masons from 1865 to 1871. The building was demolished sometime between 1901 to 1910 during which time the property belonged to Dr. Daniel Stratton. Pretty clear who was responsible for its destruction...

[Picture of West wall next to a garage]

[Picture of walls behind garage]

Cohn-Morris Store

Currently known as the Old Post Office and Visitor's Center (the latter part closed some years ago), the Cohn-Morris store was built around 1858. Joseph Cohn, a Jewish merchant from Poland, initially owned the store, which then came into possession of the Morris family in 1862 to 1865 and then again from 1891 to 1920. The patriarch of the Morris family, James, was born in Prussia (1825). He was listed sometimes as grocer and other times as a dealer in dry goods and clothing In 1902, Saul Morris purchased the coach line to Yosemite which ran until 1914. He was at one time the Assistant Postmaster serving the late night stages. He might have been the one to move the post office into the building.

[Picture of Cohn-Morris Store]

[Picture of Eddie Webb Commemorative Plaque]

Mountain Brow Lodge #82 I.O.O.F.

The Oddfellows Hall was built in 1863 and is the largest standing building and only surviving masonry building in Chinese Camp today. It is located on the southwest corner of Main St and CA 49/120. The Oddfellows Lodge was chartered in 1858 and moved to Los Banos at the turn of the century. The building was assessed to the Knights of Pythias Lodge #216 in 1910 and the George Washington Lodge #62, F. and A. M. in 1920 (their third location after the first lodge at the corner of Main St and Solinsky Alley and second at southwest corner of Washington and Yosemite Street [1873 to 1901]). The building was bought by Dr. Stratton (1862-1931) in 1921 after a fire destroyed his residence and barn at the northeast corner of the same intersection. Dr. Stratton was the only physician serving the people from Chinese Camp to Yosemite from 1899 to 1931. Some sources refer to the building as C.O. Drew House.

[Picture of Oddfellows Hall]

St Xavier Catholic Church

Built in 1855 (though the sign says 1854), the St Xavier Catholic Church stands halfway up Rocky Hill at the end of Main St (north side) overlooking the town. The church is considered the second oldest surviving Roman Catholic church in the county. Services have not been held at the church since the late 1920s. St Xavier was restored in 1949, but has since fallen again into disrepair. A cable was placed around the old church a few years ago to keep it from tilting over.

[Picture of St Xavier Catholic Church]

[Picture of church window from inside A]

[Picture of church window from inside B]

Egling Blacksmith Shop

Louis Egling first apopeared in Chinese Camp records in 1856 as one of four blacksmiths operating in town at that time. He built this blacksmith shop around 1879, replacing the one that burnt down in 1878. At one point, he owned the entire black and had six fires going for smithy work. His shop made hand scythes, wagon wheels, entire wagons, stage coaches, etc. Egling owned a lumber yard and a large feed yard. At one point, he was also the town undertaker and bandmaster.

[Picture of Egling Blacksmith Shop]

[Picture of Egling Blacksmith Shop side]

Egling Granary

First built around 1858, the cylindrical, structure is sixteen feet in diameter with walls nearly seven feet tall. The actual purpose of the structure is a bi of a mystery and assumed to have been a granary. It was partial destroyed, presumably by the 1878 fire.

[Picture of Egling Granary]

Crimea House

Though there is nothing left at this site other than the plaque commemorating it, Crimea House (originally called Kentucky House) was built in 1853 by James Wallace Kerrick. Crimea House was located four miles from Chinese Camp on Red Hill Rd. and served as a combination restaurant, saloon, boarding house, and stable. It was an important stop for frighters and travelers from San Joaquin and the San Francisco Bay area who were heading to the Southern Mines. It was also the location where 2,100 Chinese engaged in the first Tong War in California on Sept. 26, 1856. Crimea House burned down on October 8, 1949.

[Picture of Old Crimea House plaque]

Crimea House Corral

Constructed around 1858 for either James Wallace Kerrick (first owner of Crimea House) or Ezekiel Brown (second owner who changed the name to Crimea House), the round corral is an excellent example of dry, roughly cut stone workmanship. It is believed to have been built by Chinese laborers.

[Picture of Crimea House Corral]

Peacock of Chinese Camp

Not sure when peacocks were introduced into Chinese Camp, but they roam around like they own the place.

[Picture of Peacock roaming Main St]

Chinese Camp Cemeteries

On our first trip to Chinese Camp, we only knew of the Catholic Cemetery on the grounds of St Xavier. Since our second trip, I learned that there is an Oddfellow Cemetery and a City Cemetery. We plan to visit there sites on our next explore of Chinese Camp.

[Picture of St Xavier sign]