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Painted Hills

Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site & Museum

Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site & Museum

If you haven’t seen this place, you need to go. Originally a Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence, Kam Wah Chung gives you an incomparable glimpse into the past. This remarkable site, a National Historic Landmark, is located in the town of John Day, and includes a museum and a separate interpretive center. 

The museum was built in the 1870s, possibly as a trading post. This tiny, unassuming building became home to two Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On. Both became locally famous: Lung On as a general store proprietor and businessman, and “Doc” Hay as a practitioner of herbal medicine. For 50-some years, the building was a social, medical and religious center for the Oregon’s Chinese community. 

Learn more about Kam Wah Chung by watching an Emmy nominated documentary produced by Oregon Public broadcasting. 

An ADA-accessible interpretive center across the street from the museum is open daily. In 2011, the center opened a new exhibit, detailing the life and times of Doc Hay and Lung On. 

 Museum Tours 

 Open daily May 1 - October 31, 9 a.m. - Noon, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. 

 Guided tours only. Tours start at the top of each hour at the Interpretive Center and last about 45 minutes (last tour at 4 p.m.). Free tickets for the tour can be picked up at the Interpretive Center.

Contact Info

125 NW Canton Street
John Day, OR