McNear: Mew Yit sold seaweed, bought a cafe and City Grocery in Fort Bragg

MEW YIT QUONG moved to Fort Bragg in 1930 after marrying Chan Young Quong, who worked as a cook for Union Lumber Company. Chan Young lived at the lumber camps but would return home on Saturday until Sunday, leaving Mew Yit in charge of raising their five children for most of the week. In an oral history interview later in her life, she recalled feeling isolated during that time, frequently calling her father in San Francisco to have someone to talk to. She discusses combating her loneliness by starting to work outside of her home.

Mew Yit ran a successful seaweed business for at least ten years. She bought dried seaweed, prepared and packaged it in her home, and resold it to locals in Fort Bragg’s Chinatown. Orders for her seaweed were also sent to San Francisco, Hawaii and Hong Kong.