click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
A Chinese shrimp-fishing village thrived on the northern shores of San Francisco Bay (this is San Pablo Bay to the east of San Rafael) in the 1880s. Nearly 500 people, originally from Canton, China, lived here in its heyday.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Chinese immigrants found employment building mines, railroads, tunnels, levies, and generally doing the heavy-lifting "White Man" didn't want to do. But work ran out and by the 1880's the Chinese found themselves without jobs--needing other employment. Discrimination against these foreign workers was rampant, however netting Bay-Shrimp was one industry left open to Chinese.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Today the fishing village is maintained by the Park Service, with the help of Frank Quan who lives here, a descendent of one of the original residents.
Sadly and with regrets, China Camp State Park is scheduled to be closed due to budget constraints sometime next year. Frank's future is unclear at this point.
I'll have more photos from China Camp tomorrow...
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