Cameron House at 920 Sacramento Street began in 1874 as the Occidental Mission Home, a Presbyterian shelter for Chinese women and girls escaping forced prostitution and indentured servitude. The current brick building was designed by Julia Morgan and completed in 1908, replacing the original lost in the 1906 fire.
The house is named for Donaldina Cameron, a New Zealand-born missionary who ran it from 1897 to 1934. Cameron and her staff are credited with helping around 3,000 women leave the brothels and labor contracts controlled by the tongs. She led nighttime rescues and sheltered women through court fights. Her record is read with more complexity today, since the home also imposed strict control over the women in its care.
Cameron House is now a nonprofit serving Asian American families with youth programs and social services. It is a private working building. View it from the sidewalk.