Tuck High Storefront

Tuck High Co. Chinatown Store

Ongoing Exhibition
New York Metropolis Hall

The Tuck High Co. store, founded in 1879 on Mott Street, embodies the resilience, ingenuity, and interconnectedness of New York’s Chinatown. For over a century, this family-run business—owned and operated by three generations of the Lee family—provided more than just dry goods and imports from China. It served as a hub for commerce, culture, and community. Offering everything from kitchen utensils and paper goods to herbal remedies and more, Tuck High supplied daily necessities and cultural touchstones to Chinese immigrants navigating life in a new country. 

At the time of its closure in 1980, Tuck High was the oldest continuously operating store in Chinatown. To preserve its significance, the Lee family transferred many of the store's original contents including counters, a cash register, lamps, tools, and receipts to the museum. Also on display are artifacts from two other recently closed stores, Sun Goon Shing Co. and Quong Yee Wo & Co., that reinforce Tuck High's story of adaptation and survival. Discover crates that carried goods across oceans, mail pouches that connected families, and an herbalist’s remedies that healed both body and soul.

Ongoing conservation efforts ensure that this history remains vibrant. Faded papers, textiles, and lanterns will be replaced with new pieces sourced from today’s Chinatown businesses, symbolizing the enduring legacy of community and commerce in Chinatown.

Virtual Tour of Tuck High Co.

Explore the Tuck High, Co. Store at the New York State Museum

 

Three New York Chinatown Stories at Tuck High

The Tuck High Company store embodies tens of thousands of stories about what Chinatown was truly about. Jack Tchen, cross-cultural historian and co-founder of the Museum of Chinese in America, will share three stories interweaving the lives of a tea merchant, a “laundryman,” and the Irish “Mayor of Chinatown.”

The Tuck High Co. Store: From Mott Street to the New York State Museum

Join NYSM Senior Historian to learn more about the store’s history, how and why it came to the NYSM as an exhibition, and about current work to clean and conserve the collections inside.