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Imperiled Fiddletown Chinese Buildings Receive Second State Grant
Spectrum Staff
Years
of fundraising to rescue two imperiled gold rush Chinatown buildings
in Fiddletown have paid off with an announcement by the California
Culture and Historical Endowment (CCHE) last week that a grant of
$208,000 will be awarded to the Fiddletown Preservation Society (FPS).
The small foothill village of Fiddletown, located 40 miles southeast of Sacramento
in Amador County, is unique in having four gold rush era structures remaining
from its 19th century Chinatown.
Most early Chinatowns in California were destroyed by arson or demolition. Fiddletown’s
Chinese gambling hall and general store, both constructed around 1860, are in
danger of crumbling from the ravages of time.
Since 2001, the FPS has been seeking public and private funds to save these evocative
remainders of a once-vibrant Chinese community. The buildings are across the
street from the rammed-earth Chew Kee Museum, a historic Chinese herb store that
was restored in the 1980s.
This first phase of the Fiddletown Restoration of Chinese Structures (ROCS) project
will stabilize and weatherproof the two endangered Chinese buildings.
Project Manager Carl McDanel explains, “The FPS can now move ahead with
exterior preservation which will meet national standards for historic structures.
We are pleased that our project has been recognized for its importance in telling
the story of the Chinese contribution to the gold rush.”
CCHE funding augments the Proposition 12 California Heritage grant awarded to
the FPS by the California Office of Historic Preservation in 2002. Additional
money was raised from local grants, Chinese organizations and private donations.
“Obviously the grant team for this round of the CCHE did a tremendous job,” said
FPS President Roger Nunn.
“We had applied for several grants prior to this, so we need to thank all
those who worked on those efforts as well,” he said.
CCHE is a grant program designed to preserve stories of the many people who together
make up an historic and modern California. CCHE awarded $122 million from the
California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks and Coastal Protection
Act of 2002 — more commonly known as Proposition 40.
Government entities, nonprofit organizations and Indian tribes applied for the
grants through a competitive application process. The grants were allocated to
projects of varying sizes throughout the state. The Knight Foundry and Kennedy
Mine in Amador County have also been slated for funding.
The FPS will continue to seek funds for the restoration of these Chinese two
buildings. The next fundraiser for the project will be the 4th Annual Heritage
Celebration on April 5. For more information, visit www.fiddletown.info or call
(209) 256-3222.
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Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
