McMinnville’s Chinese Underground
Myths & Legends
Have you heard there are old underground tunnels beneath 3rd Street? Perhaps you’ve heard that they’re haunted. Surely, you’ve heard that Chinese men lived in the basement of the Old Elks Lodge over 100 years ago. Most of this is true, but not all of it.
It is true that Chinese men who settled in the area occupied the basement space sometime in the early to mid 1900s. It’s also true that a photographer once captured a rather eery photo in that basement of what might be a ghost!
The unfinished Chinese history museum in the basement of the Old Elks Lodge.
However, it isn’t true that there tunnel systems under the buildings and streets of downtown McMinnville that Chinese men used to get around. There was a small, underground ventilation tunnel. It was made to carry hot air from the basement furnace of the building on the southwest corner of Evans St & 3rd St to the other buildings on the southern side of the block. If you want to see real Chinese underground tunnels, you’ll need to head to Pendleton.
Basement Museum Project
When the Old Elks Lodge building was sold in the 1990s, the new owners discovered some Chinese writing in the basement. This sent the late Matthew Worrix and, and his good friend Carl Smith, on a journey to learn more about the history of Chinese people in Oregon. Matt and Carl spent years converting the basement into a place where this history could be honored, curating items they thought would help tell the story and creating informational signs to post on the walls.
There is so much local Asian American history that can be preserved and enjoyed in a dedicated space like this. It is one of the big, hairy, audacious goals of the Asian Heritage Association to finish the project that Matt and Carl began and make this space available to the public as a museum and cultural center.
In the coming weeks ahead, we will be sharing information about the “Chinese Underground” of McMinnville, Oregon right here on our website. We’ll be posting a video tour and information on how you can get involved in bringing this museum to life!
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