19th Century Chinese Railroad Worker Habitation Structures on the Central Pacific Railroad

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Following the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, there was an immediate need to provide maintenance crews along the line. The Central Pacific Railroad met this need, largely, through the employment of ethnic Chinese workers in Utah, Nevada and California, a pattern that continued for more than 20 years. These workers were provided with bunkhouses and, sometimes, cookhouses at many, if not all, section stations along the route. These frame buildings were generally similar to one another. Little is known about the structures, their origin and why specific sizes and types were chosen to be occupied by Chinese workers. This study explores what is known about the infrastructure and what its nature may suggest about Chinese and European American worker relations.    

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• 2020 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 982