Landmark Building
CHINESE LAUNDRY, 1895
312 25th Street, Fort Macleod
Built in 1895
'); "Chinese Laundry")
The Chinese Laundry is located in an area which was once the core of Fort Macleod's Chinatown. Three or four buildings on the corner of 25th Street and 3rd Avenue comprised the core of Chinatown. Prior to 1900, there were many other businesses run by resident Chinese situated throughout the town, including a number of cafes and laundries. The need for so many laundries was generated from the extensive use by restaurants of heavy linens, which required laundering.
The Chinese laundry or O.K. Laundry building was the home of a variety of businesses following its construction. In addition to being a laundry, it also housed a store selling herbs. During the 1930s, the building remained vacant. In 1945, it served as a garage for a short period but was later purchased by "Happy" Leong who operated a laundry and boarding house. The building was subsequently taken over by York Chow. Lee Ping and his grandson later operated it until 1968. The building has since been bought by Larson's Tire Shop and is used for storage. Together with the building now occupied by J. C. Edgar's Plumbing, the Chinese Laundry building has become a reminder of the town's once thriving Chinatown business district.
The Chinese Laundry building was one of three structures of similar design in Chinatown, all used as boarding houses or laundries by the Chinese community. Today it is also one of the three wood-frame commercial buildings still standing in Fort Macleod. This nailed wood-frame structure is similar to the other two wood-frame buildings, displaying a prominent boomtown facade.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from A Walking/Driving Tour of Fort Macleod’s Historic Downtown & Residential Area. Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism and Fort Macleod Provincial Historic Area Society, n.d., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.