JOHN DAY, Oregon— Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site welcomes visitors to its Interpretive Center and historic building for the 2025 season starting Friday, May 2.
The Kam Wah Chung building is a National Historic Landmark that preserves the home and businesses of two Chinese immigrants, Ing "Doc" Hay and Lung On. For more than 60 years the building was a social, medical and religious center for Oregon's Chinese community.
The Interpretive Center will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (closed 11 a.m. to noon for lunch). The historic building and Interpretive Center will be closed Monday through Thursday during May and possibly into June due to low staffing levels at the site. Check the website for hours of operation throughout the season: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=5
Tours of the historic building will run at the top of every hour, the last one beginning at 3 p.m. The free, 45-minute historic building tour begins at the Interpretive Center at 125 NW Canton Street in John Day. Space is limited to 8 people per tour.
For more information or questions about booking tours and operating hours, please call the park office at 541-575-2800.
It you don’t have the opportunity to visit this heritage site, you can learn more about the site and Chinese American history in Oregon through these online resources:
- Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project
- National Historic Landmark Nomination: Kam Wah Chung Company Building
- Oregon Encyclopedia: Chinese Americans in Oregon and Kam Wah Chung and Co.
- Oregon Historical Society: Beyond Chinatown: Uncovering Oregon’s Rural Chinese History and Centering Chinese History in Oregon and Herbs & Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace
