Editing Chinese Camp, California (section)

==History==
[[File:OldCrimeaHouseLocation.JPG|thumbnail|right|The site of the Old Crimea House. It was here where the First Tong War was fought.]]
Chinese Camp is the remnant of a notable [[California Gold Rush]] mining town. Between 1849 and 1882, thousands of Chinese immigrants arrived in the area to look for good fortune on the legendary “Gold Mountain.”<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last1=Ichikawa |first1=Nina F. |title=Looking for a Gold-Rush Town Named Chinese Camp |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/travel/california-asian-history.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210917&instance_id=40607&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=104864178&segment_id=69150&user_id=ebdf1b034734a45c5219c1adea74fed1 |access-date=17 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=15 September 2021}}</ref>

The settlement was first known as "Camp Washington" or "Washingtonville" and one of the few remaining streets is Washington Street. Some of the first Chinese laborers arriving in California in 1849 were driven from neighboring [[Camp Salvado]] and resettled here, and the area started to become known as "Chinee" or "Chinese Camp" or "Chinese Diggings". At one point, the town was home to an estimated 5,000 Chinese.<ref name="NYT" />

[[Image:Chinese Camp CA Postmark.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Postmark from Chinese Camp, CA.]]The Chinese Camp post office was established in the general store on April 18, 1854. This building is currently vacant, and a post office is in operation on a plot of land rented from a local resident.

An 1892 Tuolumne County history indicates that, in 1856, four of the six Chinese companies (protective associations) had agents here and that the first [[tong war]] (between the Sam Yap and Yan Woo [[tong (organization)|tong]]s) was fought near here when the population of the area totaled several thousand. The actual location is several miles away, past the 'red hills', near the junction of Red Hills Road and J-59.

An 1860 diary says Chinese Camp was the metropolis for the mining district, with many urban comforts. While [[placer mining]] had played out in much of the Gold Country by the early 1860s, it was still active here as late as 1870. An 1899 mining bulletin listed the total gold production of the area as near [[US dollar|US$]]2.5 million.

[[File:Chinese Camp Elementary School.jpg|thumb|right|June 2014. The Chinese Camp, California Elementary School]]Chinese Camp is the location and subject of [[California Historical Landmark]] #423, dedicated on March 4, 1949.<ref name="NYT" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Chinese Camp|url=https://www.parks.ca.gov/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-11|website=CA State Parks|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991110054913/http://parks.ca.gov:80/ |archive-date=1999-11-10 }}</ref> The [[Saint Francis Xavier]] Roman [[Catholic Church]], established in 1855,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=California Historical Landmark #423: Chinese Camp in Tuolumne County|url=https://noehill.com/tuolumne/cal0423.asp|access-date=2021-10-11|website=noehill.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=CHL # 423 Chinese Camp Tuolumne|url=https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-423|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-11|website=California Historical Landmark|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804114105/https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-423 |archive-date=2020-08-04 }}</ref> making it the oldest church in the county. The church was renovated in 1949,<ref name=":0" /> by [[John Nicolini]] but has since fallen into disrepair. The church itself is owned by the [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] [[archdiocese]].

The current Chinese Camp School is very distinctive, having been designed by Dolores Nicolini in the style of a [[China|Chinese]] [[pagoda]]. This school has been in operation since 1970. Previously, the school was in a building near the church. This building was lost in a fire on May 4, 2006.