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Yosemite honors Chinese immigrants who helped develop national park

By KTVU staff
Updated  October 4, 2021 12:00pm PDT
Yosemite National Park
KTVU FOX 2

Yosemite National Park adds feature to honor immigrant workers

Yosemite National Park is adding an exhibit to the park that recognizes the work of immigrant laborers from China who were instrumental in the park's development.

Yosemite National Park has a new attraction that honors the contributions of Chinese workers who helped turn the remote area into an international tourist destination. 

The Chinese laundry building has been restored and turned into a visitors' center where the stories of immigrants are shared. 

Migrants from China helped build the Tioga and Wawona roads that cut through the Yosemite valley, allowing visitors to reach the area.. 

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It was also common for immigrant laborers to work in the laundry or as cooks and gardeners in the early years of the park. 

"Chinese people have been a big part of communities throughout the Sierra Nevada for a really long time, and it's about time that we started sharing that history here in Yosemite," Park Ranger Adam Ramsey said, according to the Associated Press

The park officially opened on Oct. 1, 1890, making it now 131 years old. 

This exhibit is part of a larger project to create a new history center in Yosemite.

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