Archaeologists conducting excavations in the ghost town of Terrace, Utah, United States (US) have made a rare find, namely a house belonging to a 19th century Chinese worker on a transcontinental railroad.
The house, which at the time of discovery was just a layer of floorboards littered with artifacts such as coins and stoneware, was the first Chinese house to be completely excavated on a transcontinental railroad.
"More than 11,000 immigrants from China helped build the railroad that connects the East line in Iowa to San Francisco Bay. But these workers often don't have historical documents from the late 1800s," said Christopher Merritt, Utah Division of State historic preservation officer. History, quoted from Live Science.
"Chinatown's presence is not on any Terrace map. Being able to open an entire house for the first time, gave us a very interesting look at the Chinese railroad working community."
Chinese coins. Photo: Christopher Merritt
Terrace ghost town
The town of Terrace is located in northwest Utah, where the railroad was built in the late 1860s. In its heyday, Terrace was a railroad maintenance town, inhabited by 500 people or more. But in 1902, the railroad opened a cutoff route with a bridge across the Great Salt Lake, so workers didn't have to go around the lake or across the Terrace. In 1904, the city disappeared.
A fire in the early 1900s wiped out most of the city's main streets, but artifacts remain strewn on the ground. The artifacts represent the city's thriving "time capsule" that Utah state archaeologists are eager to study and protect the site.
In collaboration with the Utah-based China Railroad Workers Descendants Association, the archaeological team carried out two excavations at the site.
"The amount of cultural material and artifacts on the ground is staggering. Archaeologists collected 10,000 to 20,000 items that have been preserved by the dry desert climate. These items reveal something that doesn't exist on any map: the location of Chinatown Terrace," explains Merritt.
Chinese culture on the transcontinental railroad
Researchers were able to tell where the Chinese workers on Terrace lived based on artifacts such as Chinese coins, pieces of toys, broken porcelain bowls and pots used to store soy sauce and vinegar.
From China, these goods will cross the Pacific by ship to San Francisco, where workers load them on trains for trips to the small town. Archaeologists and volunteers at the excavations even found preserved melon seeds, nut shells and Chinese dates at the site.
The 1870 Census records 56 Chinese workers living on the Terrace at the top of the city, but Census records often underestimate minorities and immigrants. It is possible that as many as 100 Chinese workers call the city a temporary home.
"There is no legal requirement for segregation between these workers and the white residents of the city of Terrace. But discrimination and racism keep the two communities apart," Merritt said.
However, the researchers found evidence of at least one Chinese worker-owned business right on the main road. The nature of the business is unclear, but archaeologists found jars of wine, crockery and porcelain in the building's foundations.
"It could be a grocery store, laundrette or even a restaurant. We don't know the answer yet, but at least now we have a bright spot that there is a Chinese presence on this main street on Terrace," Merritt said.
The researchers now plan to more thoroughly analyze the artifacts found at the site, hoping to reveal more stories about the workers who built the transcontinental railroad.
