Browse Museums

Boarding House Museum
Locke, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House

The Boarding House was built in 1909 to board the workers of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The shipping warehouse is located across the River Road. The Boarding house was later purchased by the Kuramoto family, who operated the Boarding House from 1920 to 1942. The Kuramoto family was interned during WWII and did not return to resume operation of the Boarding House after the War. In 2008 it became the Locke Boarding House, a unit of the State Park System. The exhibit and research facility are operated by the California State Parks and the Locke Foundation. It is open to the public free of charge.

Jan Ying Museum
Locke, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House

Locke’s Jan Ying Benevolent Association dates back to the founding of Locke in 1915. The Jan Ying building, centrally located on the east side of Main Street Locke, was the social center and informal headquarters for the men from the Zhongshan District of China. The men could go there to read and converse in their local dialect. The field workers received mail and assistance in writing and translation. They read Chinese newspapers, played games of chess, dominoes, fan-tan, and mahjong. They drank tea and played musical instruments. Visit this museum and get a glimpse of how they relaxed and passed time after a hard day’s work.

Dai Loy Gambling House Museum
Locke, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House

Built in 1915 by Bing Lee, this gambling hall was in continuous operation until 1950 when the Sacramento County officials closed its doors. The name Dai Loy means ‘Big Welcome’ in Chinese. Pai Ngow, Fan Tan, and the Chinese lottery using 80 Chinese characters were the games of chance that were popular among Chinese gamblers. It is now restored as a museum with displays of the games and tables and Chinese artifacts as well as archival photographs from the Delta.

Locke Chinese School Museum
Locke, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House

The Joe Shoong School House was built in 1915 funded by the Kao Ming Tong. The building was used by the KMT members as a meeting place and also used by the Locke community as a town hall. In 1926 with funding from the Nationalist Party of China, it became the National School, a place for “after school” children to learn Cantonese reading and writing skills.

MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Oregon Museum Association 2024 Conference

September 8, 2024 - September 10, 2025

North Bend, Oregon

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

RECENT UPDATES