Mai Wah Museum

The Mai Wah Museum is located in Butte, Montana, United States. Its mission is to document the history of Asian people in the Rocky Mountains. The museum is housed in the Wah Chong Tai building and Mai Wah Noodle Parlor building at 17 West Mercury Street.[2]

Mai Wah Museum
Mai Wah Society Building
Mai Wah Museum is located in Montana
Mai Wah Museum
Mai Wah Museum is located in the United States
Mai Wah Museum
Location17 W. Mercury St., Butte, Montana
Coordinates46°0′40.2″N 112°32′9.8″W
NRHP reference No.66000438[1]

History

Chin Hin Doon of the Chinn family relocated to America amidst famines and unrest in Guangdong province to start a new life in America. Chinn settled in Butte as a merchant in the Wah Chong Tai Company by 1894. By the 1930s, his son Albert Chinn who attended public schools in Butte ran the business out of the present Wah Chong Tai Mercantile and Mai Wah Noodle Parlor buildings, providing services and lodging to the local Chinese population. The Wah Chong Tai Mercantile, moved into the present building in 1899, now stands as the country's only original Chinese store from the early 20th century. Butte's Chinatown was once the largest between Minneapolis and Seattle. Now, the mercantile and adjoined Mai Wah Noodle Parlor exhibit 2,500 artifacts dating back to as early as 1905.[3]

In 2018, the Mai Wah Museum secured $133,000 through a Partners in Preservation grant to restore the exterior of the two buildings that make up the museum. The Partners in Preservation campaign highlighted sites that helped tell stories of diversity and of fights for equality. The online voting concluded with the Mai Wah Museum in the No. 6 position among 20 finalists.[4]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Carrie Schneider. "Remembering Butte's Chinatown". Official State of Montana Travel Information Site. Archived from the original on August 22, 2004.
  3. Amanda Mei (October 30, 2018). "Montana Society Renovates Old Chinatown Museum". East-West Center. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  4. Kristen Inbody (January 21, 2020). "Butte's Mai Wah Museum wins big in preservation contest". Great Fall Tribune. Retrieved July 6, 2021.


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