Emmaville was once known by the name “Vegetable Creek” because of the large number of Chinese market gardens that were established there to provide fresh food for the mining population of the area during the tin boom that began in the 1870s and lasted into the early part of the 20th century. Emmaville Mining Museum today houses not only a world class collection of beautiful local mineral specimens, but also records and photographs relating to the area’s rich Chinese heritage. Two items of particular interest in Emmaville Mining Museum are an 1896 list of numerous Chinese subscribers to the Vegetable Creek Hospital fund and the 1893 Telfer’s Butcher Shop ledger showing Ah Hing, Ah Lin, Ah Sam, Pack Shin and Ah Nam as customers. It would be interesting to know whether there are descendants of any of the names on either of these lists still living in the area — post by Our Chinese Past member Gilian Oxley
List of Chinese donors to the Vegetable Creek hospital fund in 1896. This list is on display at Emmaville Mining Museum— at Emmaville Mining Museum.
Telfer’s Butcher Shop Ledger 1893 showing names of Chinese customers at the nearby Tent Hill mining settlement. On display in Emmaville Mining Museum. Photo credit to Our Chinese Past member Paul Macgregor— at Emmaville Mining Museum.
— with Ron Jillet at Emmaville Mining Museum
