Crimea House
/James W. Kerrick arrived here in 1853, coming over the Emigrant Trail with nine covered wagons. He built and operated the Crimea House, a combination restaurant, saloon, boarding house, and stable. It was an important stop for freighters and travelers from the San Joaquin and Bay regions who were heading into the Southern Mines. The buildings were destroyed by fire on October 8 of 1949.
Crimea House is located four miles from Chinese Camp via Red Hill Road.
A Stone Monument stands near the site of the original Crimea House and gives a brief description of the establishment.
A Stone Corral which dates to the early 1850’s stands across the street from the monument. It is in a remarkable state of preservation and is still used to hold animals. The corral was probably built by the Chinese laborers who were responsible for the miles and miles of stone walls which run across the low hills of the Southern Mines. Some of these stone fences were originally five feet high and cattle proof. To build these fences, the Chinese were paid two bits a rod (sixteen and a half feet) and often worked from dawn to dusk on this back-breaking ku-li, which means “bitter labor” in Chinese.
