CHINESE CAMP, CA (Route 49)
Blink at the roadside sign and you'll pass right by it.
The Post Office Building
The Post Office Building was erected in 1854 and
first housed Timothy McAdams’ general store, after which it served as
the post office for many years. This cool building was made of stone
with a brick front for looks and was one of the few post offices in the
state which had outside boxes for public use. A plaque on the right side
of the building honors Eddie Webb, one of the last stagecoach drivers to
roll through town.
A mining camp founded in 1849 by a group of Englishman who employed the Chinese workers as miners.
The 1800 era homes and stores are covered by brush and are easily missed.
First Tong war in California was fought close by and involved the residents of this camp.
The lack of water in the area, needed for working the placers, may be one reason why the Chinese were able to establish a successful camp without much interference from the white miners.
Being more patient and industrious than their American counterparts, the Chinese miners were willing to work harder and for less return than the white miners, often making good wages on claims abandoned by other miners.
The mines in this vicinity were principally surface diggings, with the gold being diffused throughout the entire surface. Hilltops as well as gulches paid good wages. The problem was the gold-bearing dirt had to be hauled to a creek on the Sims Ranch, or still farther, to Six Bit Gulch in order to be washed. This was a lot of work. Eventually ditches and flumes were built across Montezuma Flat, bringing in water from Woods Creek and a new influx of miners to search for gold.
Many of the buildings appear empty and the little town is worth exploring.
The camp continued to grow, and due to the large number of Chinese
inhabitants, became known by such names as Chinese, Chinese Diggins, and
Chinese Camp. When the post office was established on April 18 of 1854,
the town became officially known as Chinese Camp. The only reminder of
its earlier cognomen, Camp Washington, lies in the road Washington
Street. The town’s location made Chinese Camp the center of
transportation for a large area, several stage and freight lines made
regular daily stops here on their way to other points. During the
mid-1850’s, an estimated three to five thousand inhabitants lived in the
area and the camp boasted several stores, hotels, joss houses,
blacksmiths, a church, a bank, a Wells Fargo office, a Masonic Lodge,
and the Sons of Temperance. Four of the famous Chinese "Six Companies"
had their agents in town.
The placer mines of this area are credited with
producing $2.5 million in gold.
St. Xavier’s Catholic Church
St. Xavier’s Catholic Church was the first
non-Chinese house of worship in Chinese Camp. Built in 1855 by popular
subscription of funds and labor, the structure originally had a shingle
roof which was replaced with sheet iron and several coats of paint when
the building was restored in 1949. Father Henry Aleric was the first
priest to serve the seventy parishioners at Chinese Camp. He traveled a
circuit through the mines, covering an area stretching from Knights
Ferry to Second Garrote. He rode a mule. The church is located on a hill
across the highway.CHINESE CAMP CEMETERY
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