Day 357: China Camp State Park, San Rafael, California
📌APIA Every Day (357) - China Camp State Park, located on the western edge of San Pablo Bay, is home to the best-preserved historic Chinese shrimping village in the Bay Area. Constructed in the mid-19th century, China Camp Village was one of many fishing communities established by early Chinese immigrants around San Francisco. These villages not only provided employment opportunities but also served as safe havens from the discrimination Chinese immigrants often faced in urban areas.
Chinese laborers first began settling at China Camp around the late-1860s, seeking new forms of employment after working on the transcontinental railroad. The emerging village’s location on the bay made it ideal for both accessing nearby shrimp beds and drying shrimp along the shore. Residents used traditional fishing methods, including bag nets to harvest shrimp in shallow waters, and navigated the bay in long wooden boats known as fishing junks. FInding success, the settlement grew quickly over the following decade.
By the late 1880s, China Camp Village had a population of 400 Chinese residents and 30 wooden buildings. These included residences, storage sheds, shrimp drying platforms, and a number of small businesses counting three general stores, a marine supply shop, and a barbershop. The structures were tightly clustered into parallel rows along the waterfront, and several piers extended into the bay. In total, the village produced about three million pounds of shrimp each year, most of which was exported to China, with a smaller portion sold to local restaurants.
In the early 20th century, however, the success of the shrimping village began to decline due to the introduction of several discriminatory laws. In 1905, shrimp exports were made illegal, and by 1911, the use of traditional bag nets was banned. Following these developments, the population of China Camp declined to only 79 individuals in 1900. By the 1920s, the remaining settlement had shifted from a large-scale shrimping operation to a small, family-run business that served local sport fishermen. Frank Quan, the grandson of early settler Quan Hung Quock, was the last of the original shrimp fishermen to live and work at China Camp—remaining at the site until his death in 2016.
In 1972, development pressures threatening the China Camp area led to the California State Park Foundation purchasing the 1,640-acre site in 1976. Developer Chinn Ho donated the 35-acre village as part of the property, and in 1977, China Camp State Park was officially established. In 1979, recognizing the site’s significance to early Chinese American history in the region, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the park and the village remain open to visitors.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
NPS Gallery: National Register Nomination Form
Friends of China Camp: Cultural reports shed light on China Camp’s history
Friends of China Camp: History
SF Gate: The Chinese fishing village lost to time, just north of San Francisco
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