Oldest Chinese Laundry in the U.S. Closes Shop After 140 Years

Ching Lee Laundry, the oldest Chinese-owned laundry in the United States, closed its doors Saturday after 140 years of continuous operations by the same family.

On its final day of operations, a steady stream of the shop's longtime customers, some who've been coming to Ching Lee (which translates to "victory" in Cantonese) for generations themselves, came to bid farewell. Many brought with them flowers, cookies, cards, and tears.

Ching Lee's third-generation owners, Jack Yee and his wife Evelyn, both 87, made the decision to close the shop due to Jack's ailing health, as well as rising costs.

"It deeply saddens me that this era is ending," Jacque Yee, the couple's daughter who has managed the shop with her father for the past 30 years, told NBC News.

In 1876, when Jacque Yee's great granduncle opened the doors of Ching Lee Laundry, he traveled by horse-drawn carriage to pick up laundry 20 miles away in San Francisco. By that time, the Gold Rush had brought tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants to California, but the Yee family was among the very first to make their way south of San Francisco, to suburban San Mateo, which was then home to just 932 people.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/oldest-chinese-laundry-u-s-closes-shop-after-140-years-n675186?cid=sm_tw