Old Chinese Herb Shop
(from NPS.gov)
Chinese American laborers constructed a railroad bed, laid
railroad tracks, built snow sheds and other buildings, and provided
maintenance for the first transcontinental railroad through the
Sierra Nevada. In Truckee, Nevada County, Chinese Americans also
worked as lumberjacks, mill hands, ice cutters, and teamsters.
Truckee was the scene of riots and racial unrest in which
Chinatown was repeatedly burned and Chinese Americans driven from
their homes.
After the first Chinese American community was destroyed, a
second Chinatown was built behind Front Street near the Old Jail. A
fire broke out on May 29, 1875 that destroyed the whole of the
Chinese American community, causing a $50,000 loss to the Chinese
Americans living there. An unsuccessful effort was made on November
18, 1878 to prevent rebuilding of the Chinese American community. A
body of 400 to 500 Whites assembled in the Chinese quarter and
totally destroyed the buildings. Nevertheless, within a month, a
new Chinatown had sprung up on the south side of the river outside
the city limits.
The Old Chinese Herb Shop is the last remaining structure from
Truckee's third Chinatown. The herb shop, dating from 1878, is a
small, one-story rectangular brick building with a wooden gable
facing east. The facade has a door and a window with iron shutters
on the ground floor. The square window in the gable has no iron
shutters, but the gable itself is probably a later replacement.
Inside are unfaced brick walls with recently added wood paneling in
the front portion of the shop. According to the present owner,
about one foot of dirt covers the floor of the attic, presumably as
insulation and fire protection for the wooden beams of the
first-floor ceiling.
The building has been changed considerably by a brick addition
on the north side, wooden wing attachments on both the north and
south sides, and a cement block addition on the north side. The
whole structure is painted white and has a metal roof. The herb
shop can be best seen from the front of the building; only a small
portion is visible at the rear. It is situated on the south bank of
the Truckee River on the site of Truckee's third Chinatown. It is
surrounded by scattered modern residences to the south, and a
trailer park to the north and east.
When shopping in old downtown Truckee, be sure to take a walk across the downtown bridge and admire the history that lies on the other side of the river. This is a common hide-a-key hide. Although, depending on the time of day, retrieving it will be a challenge. I upped the difficulty to 2.5, since quite a bit of traffic passes by here. Please be sure to put it back exactly as you found it to keep it out of sight.
Congrats to scheibwife for being FTF.