The Delicious History of the Nation's Oldest Chinese-American Restaurant

You know that Chinese immigration to the US exploded during the California Gold Rush and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. There were fortunes to be made, if not in the industries themselves, then in providing services to settlers of the frontier. Chinese restaurants fed San Francisco from the beginning, so why is the oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurant in the United States in Montana, of all places?

If it seems strange that the nation’s oldest functioning Chinese restaurant is in Montana, chalk it up to 19th century immigration patterns. Between 1850 and 1900, around 250,000 Chinese people came to the United States. Many of them were fleeing political strife, poverty, and famine; others were lured by the 1849 Gold Rush. Montana Territory was a mining mecca, and thousands of Chinese immigrants flocked there looking for work. By 1870, nearly 10 percent of Montana’s population was Chinese-American.

Eventually, gold reserves dwindled and animosity from white miners grew, so Chinese immigrants then found new jobs building America’s first transcontinental railroad. Once the railroad was completed in 1869, they gained new livelihoods as entrepreneurs, founding small businesses like laundries, groceries, farms, and—yes—Chinese-American restaurants.

The Pekin Noodle Parlor has been serving Butte, Montana, since 1911, and is run by family members of original founder. And they still serve the same dishes they started out with over 100 years ago. Read about the restaurant and its history at mental_floss.

(Image credit: Flickr user ramsbee)