Day 364: Chew Yuen Company Building, Red Bluff, California
📌APIA Every Day (364) - The Chew Yuen Company Building, constructed in 1910, is the last remaining historic structure from Red Bluff’s Gold Rush-era Chinatown. Operated by Dr. Chew Yuen post-1915, the property served as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) commercial center and clinic. By offering treatments and cultivating medicinal herbs on site, the company provided vital healthcare services for Red Bluff’s early Chinese American residents.
The initial history of the Chew Yuen Company begins with Dr. Bo Do Hong, a Chinese merchant who arrived in Red Bluff’s Chinatown in 1888. He leased a successful medical store at 838 Rio Street and established the Chinese American Annual Banquet at the nearby Chinese Masonic Lodge. In 1899, Dr. Hong invited his foster son, Dr. Chew Yuen, then working in a San Francisco herb shop, to assist with the business. Dr. Chew soon took over the store and following Bo Do Hong’s passing in 1909, later established the Chew Yuen Company at 202-204 Walnut Street in 1910. He eventually assumed sole proprietorship in 1915, a significant achievement in the face of exclusionary laws like the California Alien Land Law of 1913, which prevented Asian immigrants from owning land.
The Chew Yuen Company property included a two-story building with a basement social hall and a backyard TCM herb garden. The building’s first floor was used for retail purposes, fitted with a storefront, X-ray room, and medical office. The basement was used for community events, continuing Bo Do Hong’s annual banquet tradition. The upper floor functioned as a multi-generational residence, complete with communal living, dining, and kitchen areas. Multiple generations of the Chew family lived there until the property was sold in 1996.
In 2022, the block between Main Street and Rio Street—containing the Chew Yuen Company Building—was officially designated the Historic Chinatown Alley district. In 2024, the building was in the process of being sold to the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County to be converted into office space. In response, Jessica Chew and the Chew Family Foundation launched a petition against the sale, seeking first refusal rights to prevent significant alterations to the building. While the sale prevailed, the Chew Family is now working with the new owners to honor the history through proposals like murals and interpretative displays. Additionally, APIAHiP is supporting a campaign for the property to be nominated to the State and National Historic Register in efforts to preserve the site’s long-standing connection to the Red Bluff Chinese American community.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
Helen & Joe Chew Foundation: History
Red Bluff alleyway named Historic Chinatown District
KRCR TV: Dispute erupts over Red Bluff Chinatown building sale as descendants fight for legacy
Change.org: RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL - PETITION - SALE IN RED BLUFF, CALIFORNIA
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