Chinese immigrants faced significant discrimination in 19th-century California: racism, bans on property ownership and occupations, and oftentimes outright violence. Shrimp fishing was one of the few occupations open to them. China Camp in Marin County is a surviving shrimping village from this period, one of dozens that dotted the shores of San Francisco Bay.
Established in the 1870s, it survived into the 20th century as a sports fishing camp, undergoing changes as its uses evolved. It even served as a location for the 1955 John Wayne movie Blood Alley. All other similar enclaves have disappeared except for China Camp, preserved as a California State Park since 1977. John Martini, a former National Park ranger and historian, tracks its evolution and preservation as he covers the human and structural histories of China Camp over the last 150 years and discusses the survey of remaining buildings from the camp’s various eras he undertook for the state of California.
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