An Eastern Oregon herbalist’s shop sat forgotten for 15 years, and its tour season ends October 31
The most surprising thing in John Day isn’t a fossil. It’s an unassuming building on Canton Street where an herbalist’s shelves, a general store and a boarding house sit largely as they were more than 70 years after the doctor died.
Kam Wah Chung is a National Historic Landmark, and the state describes it as a social, medical and religious center for Oregon’s Chinese community for over 60 years. Is it on your Eastern Oregon list yet? It should be, and you only have until October 31 to get inside.
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Two men, one building, and a very busy shop
The building dates to the 1860s, when it served as a supply stop along the wagon road between The Dalles and Canyon City. In the late 1880s, two Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On, took it over and turned it into something much bigger.
Doc Hay practiced herbal medicine. Lung On ran the general store and import business next to him, which made the place part clinic, part shop and part community hub.
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Why it’s still standing
Hay died in 1952 and asked that the building become a museum. That wish was forgotten until 1967, when city officials surveying for a new park realized they owned it.
What they found is the reason to go. Inside are thousands of artifacts, including original medicinal products and one of the largest collections of primary Chinese historical documents in North America.
What the tour is actually like
Entry is by guided tour only, and each tour is capped at eight people. Plan on roughly 45 minutes to an hour, and show up five minutes early, because latecomers can forfeit their slot.
Photos are fine without a flash, but nothing in there is behind glass, so no touching. The historic building isn’t wheelchair accessible, though the interpretive center has a virtual alternative.
My pick: call 541-575-2800 and reserve a tour before you plan anything else, then build the rest of the day around it. Tours leave on the hour, but days and hours can shift during the season, so confirm before you drive out to John Day.
Make a full Eastern Oregon day of it
The obvious next stop is the John Day Fossil Beds, where the Sheep Rock Unit pairs blue-green badlands with the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center. The Painted Hills are the other big draw, and they sit in a separate unit of the same monument.
Building a longer loop? Our Eastern Oregon road trip guide has plenty more to add. Which would you tour first, the herbalist’s shop or the fossils?
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
