Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site
Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site
5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Hours posted are for May 1 through October 31 when we are open for the season. We are closed from November 1 through April 30, except during spring break, which is usually the last full week of March. Please call ahead if you are planning a visit, we may be able to accommodate! Thank you, Oregon Parks and Recreation Staff
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
160 reviews
Excellent
133
Very good
23
Average
3
Poor
1
Terrible
0
MamaSue56
Gresham, OR71 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
Interesting slice of Oregon history preserved in a Time Capsule. It's a must see if you come out here. We stayed at Clyde Holliday State Park, it made a perfect day trip, combined with the museum in nearby Canyon City.
Written June 4, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
hannah F
Eugene, OR35 contributions
May 2022 • Family
This little visitor center and tour is an absolute gem! State park volunteer Bob was extremely knowledgeable about the historic site and town history. The tour is free, and the gift shop and visitor center was very welcoming. They are in process of building a large new state park visitor center. The one hour tour was so interesting. Do not miss this stop!
Written May 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rlgraham503
Portland, OR7 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
This is one of the most interesting museums I have ever been to. It is a fascinating tale of Oregon history and so amazingly preserved. Our tour guide was so nice and informative. He made the place come to life. Highly recommend!!!
Written June 20, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1-TDaddy
Beckley, WV20 contributions
Aug 2022
Sign up in advance for the excellent guided tour to step back in time inside the building. See artifacts in the visitor center. Be sure to read the testimonial letters about being healed. Probably not a good stop for small children.
Written September 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
patroo
Springfield, OR320 contributions
Jun 2014 • Family
The Kam Wah Chung museum is a time capsule that tells the story of Doc Hay, a Chinese herbalist physician, and Lung On (Leon), businessman, who purchased the building, then in the heart of John Day's Chinatown.
They stayed for the rest of their lives.
Unusually for Chinese nationals, they chose to be buried in Oregon, on a hill overlooking the John Day Valley, among those who had become their lifelong friends and neighbors.
The building was ultimately bequeathed to a student, Bob Wah, who left the contents intact for us to see today. Some of the boxed freight is still unopened.
Our tour guide was Mel, a most excellent speaker who brought the two men to life as I have never known them before. We had done this tour previously, escorted at high speed by an employee who was more interested in making sure that we touched nothing and were never out of her immediate sight, than in telling about the wonderful things they did.
Life was not totally idyllic. Doc Hay slept with a cleaver on his night table for protection, as he could not legally own a gun, and Chinese were considered fair game by racists and those who enjoyed harming others.
Doc Hay accepted many checks in payment for his services...$23,000 in fact. He never cashed a one of them, and today they're in the museum cultural center for us to see. He knew that the Depression was causing families to suffer, and he didn't need the money.
Lung On was adept at all manner of little services and business deals, whether it was writing a letter to China for a new arrival, lending money, selling groceries, running mail order catalog orders, boarding guests, feeding guests at the little kitchen table, or most surprisingly, becoming the first Chinese national automobile dealer! He had gone to Portland to purchase his own vehicle, and there were many who tried to buy it from him upon his return. He was even offered three times the amount he had paid for his new car. He did not sell. Instead he returned to Portland several weeks later and returned with an automobile dealership deal, and the ability to sell vehicles to everyone who wanted and could afford one. This was very unusual in a xenophobic society.
I think Mel could write a screenplay or teleplay about the story of the Chinese men who helped and worked with both Chinese and other ethnicities in Eastern Oregon. Even the white families saw that Doc Hay was successful and caring in his treatment of patients, and they appreciated Lung On's business enterprises.
Please visit. Tours start on the hour, May through October.
They stayed for the rest of their lives.
Unusually for Chinese nationals, they chose to be buried in Oregon, on a hill overlooking the John Day Valley, among those who had become their lifelong friends and neighbors.
The building was ultimately bequeathed to a student, Bob Wah, who left the contents intact for us to see today. Some of the boxed freight is still unopened.
Our tour guide was Mel, a most excellent speaker who brought the two men to life as I have never known them before. We had done this tour previously, escorted at high speed by an employee who was more interested in making sure that we touched nothing and were never out of her immediate sight, than in telling about the wonderful things they did.
Life was not totally idyllic. Doc Hay slept with a cleaver on his night table for protection, as he could not legally own a gun, and Chinese were considered fair game by racists and those who enjoyed harming others.
Doc Hay accepted many checks in payment for his services...$23,000 in fact. He never cashed a one of them, and today they're in the museum cultural center for us to see. He knew that the Depression was causing families to suffer, and he didn't need the money.
Lung On was adept at all manner of little services and business deals, whether it was writing a letter to China for a new arrival, lending money, selling groceries, running mail order catalog orders, boarding guests, feeding guests at the little kitchen table, or most surprisingly, becoming the first Chinese national automobile dealer! He had gone to Portland to purchase his own vehicle, and there were many who tried to buy it from him upon his return. He was even offered three times the amount he had paid for his new car. He did not sell. Instead he returned to Portland several weeks later and returned with an automobile dealership deal, and the ability to sell vehicles to everyone who wanted and could afford one. This was very unusual in a xenophobic society.
I think Mel could write a screenplay or teleplay about the story of the Chinese men who helped and worked with both Chinese and other ethnicities in Eastern Oregon. Even the white families saw that Doc Hay was successful and caring in his treatment of patients, and they appreciated Lung On's business enterprises.
Please visit. Tours start on the hour, May through October.
Written June 20, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dreadpiratedb
Los Angeles, CA168 contributions
Jun 2019 • Couples
I recently visited family in John Day. We met in town for dinner and during our conversation, we discovered my relatives were completely unaware of this place! This is the #1 thing to do in John Day, yet 15 years in - they hadn't. It was nice to be able to broaden my family's horizon and spend a few hours learning some history. This place is Historical - and even while much of that history isn't exactly proud moments for we 'Mericans, it is a moment in time captured - and serves as an opportunity to reflect and learn. This is totally free of cost except for your time. If you are nearby - I recommend you take some time and visit! And since you have read this - have you "tripped" the area you call home? May want to see if you're missing an opportunity in your own "backyard". Thanks to my fellow reviewers for making this app worthy of use.
Written July 12, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ploumParis
paris105 contributions
Jul 2019 • Friends
Do not miss this. It’s very cool, beautiful and instructive. It’s an untouched store left as is since 1948, complete with living quarters, kitchen, shrines, and a full pharmacy of chinese medicine.
The volunteers and museum staff were great.
The small museum also has nice artifacts and is worth spending an hour to see the videos. Do not miss the short one that’s 5 minutes, the other 30 minute one is nice but can be skipped if you’re in a hurry.
The volunteers and museum staff were great.
The small museum also has nice artifacts and is worth spending an hour to see the videos. Do not miss the short one that’s 5 minutes, the other 30 minute one is nice but can be skipped if you’re in a hurry.
Written July 7, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Donald L
Watsonville, CA32 contributions
Jun 2019 • Couples
Well worth the time to visit. Our tour guide had lots of anecdotes and information A very interesting look into the life and times of Chinese workers. Surprising to learn how badly they were treated, and today are highly respected.
Written July 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jane L
Seattle, WA90 contributions
Jun 2019 • Couples
This perfectly-preserved apothecary/general store is fascinating. Guided tours are given regularly (you can only visit via a tour) and give you more information than you could glean on your own. The store is a microcosm of 100 years of history and of a partnership, of Chinese immigrants, of the quirks of life, and more. Our guide was enthusiastic and informative.
Written June 22, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
viajamujer
viajamujer96 contributions
Sep 2017 • Couples
The small Interpretive Center is well put together with listening hoods above viewers (ceiling height). Lots of items and photos fill in the written information. The center impresses upon you just how valued the two Chinese Immigrants were to the Community of John Day. Lung On, was a businessman (opened the first car dealership in John Day) and scholar - he spoke English and Cantonese fluently and purchased the building with Ing "Doc" Hay sometime around 1880. Lung On became a Mason, kept his money in several banks, owned race horses... there is so much to tell. Doc Hay was an herbalist and pulsologist who was renowned in the area. He healed people intuitively and had many medical books to consult. You see a film in the Interpretive Center in which several folks tell their stories of being healed by Doc Hay.
The Museum itself is just astonishing. The Ranger led tour is great, small enough group that we poked around and asked tons of questions. Other than items having been strewn around some by vandals who were looking for firecrackers, the place was just as Doc Hay left it when his nephew took him to Portland after he suffered a broken hip in his 70's (around 1940).
The State Parks and Friends of Kam Wah Chung restored the museum and it is now just as it was when the doors were locked.
It's small but mighty.
I wonder how much those men influenced the people of John Day to allow the community to be a bit more diverse or accepting than other communities in the area? A local merchant said she couldn't live in a terribly bigoted place, but that she really enjoys living in John Day.
Gotta go to this one folks.
Take SR 26 from Portland, stay at State Parks along the way and make this a destination - we were there about 3 hours.
The Museum itself is just astonishing. The Ranger led tour is great, small enough group that we poked around and asked tons of questions. Other than items having been strewn around some by vandals who were looking for firecrackers, the place was just as Doc Hay left it when his nephew took him to Portland after he suffered a broken hip in his 70's (around 1940).
The State Parks and Friends of Kam Wah Chung restored the museum and it is now just as it was when the doors were locked.
It's small but mighty.
I wonder how much those men influenced the people of John Day to allow the community to be a bit more diverse or accepting than other communities in the area? A local merchant said she couldn't live in a terribly bigoted place, but that she really enjoys living in John Day.
Gotta go to this one folks.
Take SR 26 from Portland, stay at State Parks along the way and make this a destination - we were there about 3 hours.
Written September 29, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Overnighting in John Day July 4 would like to tour Museum morning of July 5. Do I need a reservation, if o how?
Written July 1, 2016
I'm afraid I don't know if reservations are possible, but I suspect that they aren't. The tours are every hour, at the top of the hour, and there are only eight persons per tour. I would get there at least fifteen minutes in advance, just to make sure that you get one of the eight slots for the tour that you want. It won't be wasted time to go in advance; the exhibits at the visitor center are pretty good, too, and will definitely keep your attention.
Written July 2, 2016
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