This small cabin was moved from the ghost town of Leavick in 1959. It was initially restored as a Chinese Tong House (a meeting place), as Chinese labor played a large part in placer mining in the Fairplay area. It is believed that this exact spot was the site of a Chinese Tong House during the gold rush days. Though it is no longer displayed as a Tong House, it is important to recognize the Chinese laborers' roles in the early mining operations in and around Fairplay. It is believed that this exact spot was the site of a Chinese Tong House during the gold rush days.
When placer mining was in full swing on the Middle Fork of the South Platte River, Chinese laborers met at the Tong House to receive their daily work assignments. Lin Sou managed the workforce and acted as spokesman for the group. The Chinese also worked in Fairplay and the surrounding communities as cooks, doing hand laundry, and housekeeping. The early Fairplay settlers got their drinking water from a Chinese worker who carried the water with the help of a yoke in five-gallon coal-oil cans. The cost was $2.00 for fifty-four gallons. It was an expensive and tedious way to get drinking water. The river directly behind the Stage Coach Inn is the location of the placer mining work done by the Chinese. Early articles indicate that Edward Thayer, who worked for Frederick Clark and J.W. Smith, brought 200 Chinese laborers to work the placers.
Most Chinese workers lived across the river in approximately twenty small houses built in a row with a common wall separating each dwelling. Each house was constructed with a single door and window and had a small pitched roof. Many believe that the Chinese were not allowed in the gold camps and towns of the South Park area. This is not true; however, there was much discrimination, and most were forced to live across the river from Fairplay. It has been said that the only Chinese person allowed to live in Fairplay was China Mary, who ran a hand laundry. Her home still stands near Sixth and Front Streets.
Not long after the building was reconstructed at South Park City and open to the public, it was vandalized, and many artifacts were stolen or destroyed. It was then used for storage for many years until 1981, when it was turned into a homestead.
Today, it depicts the self-sufficiency of the early settlers. This three-room home is an example of how homesteading families lived in South Park at the end of the 1800s.
