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When we talk about Redmond’s history, we usually hear about pioneers, businesses, and development. But Chinese immigrants were also here, living and working quietly in the background. People like Sick Kee, Ah Ming, and You Hong Woo didn’t make the headlines, but they were part of the town too. Their stories may be small in the records, but they tell us something bigger about the time they lived in.
-- Wendy Q.
Little Masters Club Volunteer
Campbell Mill, 1924
In the 1910 U.S. Census, two Chinese men were recorded living in Redmond. According to census records, they are the first Chinese immigrants to reside in Redmond.
At the time, Ah Ming (age 48), and Sick Kee (age 56) both worked as cooks in what was likely the Campbell Mill Company’s lumber camp. They lived in employer-provided bunkhouses near the sawmill, alongside other immigrants from around the world—including Sweden, Norway, Russia, Ireland, and Japan.
They both indicated they were married, but no family members lived with them. Both reported that they had immigrated to the US in the 1880s, and that they spoke English.
While the census records provide a number of details about their lives, much is left unknown. They do not appear in the 1920 census of Redmond. At this time Redmond's lumber industry had begun to dwindle and there was less demand for labor, suggesting they had moved on to new opportunities.
1910 U.S. Census
There are no known photographs or personal records of them in Redmond, and they do not appear in local newspapers. However, their labor sustained the lumbermen who built early Redmond. Their quiet contribution to the town’s economy, through cooking daily meals for loggers, was significant.
Finding these records and traces was difficult, and with searching for traces of Early Chinese residents came many challenges, as there were many incomplete, inconsistent, or unfound historical records.
One of the obstacles stems from the way that Chinese names were often inconsistently transliterated into English in official records because there was no standard system and because enumerators were unfamiliar with Chinese pronunciation or naming conventions. This could result in the same surname being recorded in multiple, inconsistent forms over time.
-- Sheila Z
Little Masters Club Volunteer
Redmond's first long-term Chinese American resident was You Hong Woo.
He was born in Guangzhou (Canton), China in 1907 and immigrated to Seattle in 1922 on S.S. Tyndarus, sailing from Hong Kong.
He was just 15 years old at the time, accompanied by his brother You Sang Woo, his father's second wife Gee Shee, and youngest brother Kwork Sun Woo.
His father Gee Gun Woo was already in Seattle, working as a merchant, though Gee Shee would go on to run her own Laundry in the Queen Anne neighborhood.
The immigration process was long and difficult. Florence Chin Eng of Seattle, immigrated with her mother in 1923. Her experience provides some insight into what the process may have been like for You Hong Woo and his family.
"I was locked for two weeks in immigration – not this one – the old one, down pretty close to the Pike Place Market (pictured). Sometime when you see your father down there, he would come to look at you through the window – but no talking. The women, they put them in a separate room and then the men in a separate floor. They watch you just like a hawk. They check your human waste, urine and everything."
In 1940, You Hong Woo's draft registration shows he is still living independently in the Seattle area, and in 1943 he is called upon to serve the US ARMY during World War II. Later in life, he would share stories about his time in Europe, but unfortunately Woo is one of many servicemen whose records were lost in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.
After he was honorably discharged in 1945, he wanted a quiet life away from the hustle & bustle of Seattle. He purchased fifteen acres on Redmond's Union Hill in 1948, from a Danny Woo.
You Hong Woo's was proud of having built his home himself, with no prior experience in carpentry, and the land offered ample space for raising rabbits, sheep, goats geese and other poultry.
In the 1970s, Woo appeared in several articles in Redmond's Sammamish Valley News, one of which was distributed by the Associated Press and picked up by several other news outlets.
These articles tell us he had electricity in his home, as well as a small radio, for entertainment, a stove for cooking and heating, and several out buildings on his property for storing firewood and other uses.
However, these stories highlighted his rural and solitary lifestyle, describing him as a "colorful character." Reporters described his lack of interest in modern tools, like electric saws, and his unique way of calling goats with the chant “punky-punky-punky.”
While the tone of these interviews and articles was friendly, they use outdated terms like "Chinaman" and reflect harmful stereotypes.
In his later years, Redmond resident Sylvia Murillo developed a friendship with Woo, who she came to know affectionately as "Woo Woo".
She recalled that when he was still driving, he would take the ferry into Seattle to visit friends from the Army, and would purchase books in Chinese, or other items that would be hard to find in the Redmond area.
Sylvia helped him with errands, taking him to the bank to pick up his veteran's pension, before stopping at the Redmond Hotel Cafe.
"And when he walked in, like I said, everybody knew Woo. And he would have his chicken fried steak. That was his favorite."
You Hong Woo lived in his home until his passing in 1986, and now rests at Willamette National Cemetery.
Woo’s story is rare in Redmond’s history. Unlike earlier Chinese immigrants who came as laborers and moved frequently, he owned land, stayed in one place, and became a known figure in the area. His life bridges two eras: from exclusion and labor segregation to the slow growth of immigrant visibility. Although his home no longer exists, land records and community memories preserve his presence.
-- Wendy Q.
Little Masters Club Volunteer
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