Mai Wah Society Inc — Attraction in Butte

As someone who’s fascinated with all aspects of Western history, I was excited to visit this little museum.

The history of early Chinese immigrants is an elusive piece of the American puzzle. Many Chinese residents were driven out by financial hardships and rampant prejudice in the 1800’s and much of their story was lost. I was delighted to find a piece of it lovingly preserved at the Mai Wah.

In addition to exhibits on the experiences of coming to the US from Imperial China, the museum has a replica of the original grocery store, and an exhibit on some of Butte’s first Chinese families. The building itself, with most of the original structure and layout intact, feels like being transported back in time.

Also, the staff (both human and feline) was very friendly...

Incredible history experience! They have done amazing restoration so far, but much of it is beautifully raw upstairs, still. Downstairs they have it set up exactly as it was when open for business. All of the artifacts, packages of herbs and so many items, are original artifacts from this mercantile. When they shut down, they closed the doors with everything intact, so its all available to view. There are beautiful banners with stories and pix about the family, the history and how more history was unearthed. We'll worth visiting if you...

Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Chinese were an essential part of western history, especially for mining communities--Mai Wah does an excellent job of telling the story of the Chinese merchants, professionals, and miners that helped create the American frontier. Cool T-shirts too!

Incredibly beautiful location in historic uptown Butte (check out the views of mountain peaks and headframes/"gallows frames"). Good restaurants nearby, a great brewpub (the Quarry), and lots of other historic sites and classic industrial American...