REDWOODS
STATE FOREST, FERNDALE CA AND EUREKA CA AT A GLANCE
Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Located along the Eel River in northern
California, Humboldt Redwoods State Park contains some of the world's
most majestic ancient redwood groves. The park encompasses over 53,000
acres, including 17,000 acres of old-growth coast redwoods. In 1921 Save
the Redwoods League dedicated the first Memorial Grove, Colonel Raynal
C. Bolling Memorial Grove, in what is now known as Humboldt Redwoods State
Park. Today the park contains a diverse coast redwood ecosystem, which
includes Rockefeller Forest, the largest remaining old-growth forest in
the world, and the entire Bull Creek watershed.
Ferndale is known for well-preserved Victorian buildings, which are also
known as "Butterfat Palaces" due to their construction during
an epoch wherein considerable wealth was generated in the dairy industry,
especially during the 1880s. The entire town is an historical landmark
(see California Historical Landmark No. 883). Ferndale
is also the endpoint of the annual Kinetic sculpture race as well as being
the town where the first race began when Hobart Brown was challenged to
race his odd-looking five-wheeled bike down Main Street on Mother's Day,
1969 by local sculptor Jack Mays. Ferndale
is a popular film location and is featured in movies like The Majestic
with Jim Carrey, Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman, Salem’s Lot starring
David Soul and James Mason and Joe Dirt with David Spade. The
Humboldt County Fair is held every August at the county fairgrounds on
the edge of Ferndale, and feature the only horse-racing events in the
county along with the standard fare of agricultural, pastoral and artistic
contests, carnival games and commercial or non-profit booths.
Ferndale is located at south of US 101, is very close to the mouth of the
Eel River as it enters the Pacific Ocean. By car, Ferndale is 265 miles
(426 km) north of San Francisco and just 12 miles (19 km) south of Eureka.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 1.0 square miles (2.7 km²), all of it land.
Ferndale
is home to the longest living newspaper under a single name in Humboldt
County, the Ferndale Enterprise. Commercial radio station KHUM also calls
Ferndale home, and operates in a joint studio with KSLG-FM and KWPT under
the ownership of Lost Coast Communications. Ferndale is also home to the
North Coast's oldest and largest theatre company, The Ferndale Repertory
Theatre which has been in operation since 1972.
Eureka is the county seat and principal city in Humboldt County, California,
United States. Located adjacent to Humboldt Bay, the city is situated near
extensive preserves of the world's tallest trees - the Coast Redwoods. This
architecturally and historically significant coastal city serves as the
regional center for government, health care, trade, and the Arts for the
far North Coast of California.
Eureka's Pacific coastal location on Humboldt Bay adjacent to abundant Redwood
forests provided a rich environment for the birth of this 19th century seaport
town. Beginning more than 150 years ago, miners, loggers, and fishermen
began making their mark in this pristine wilderness of the California North
Coast. Before that time the area was already occupied by small groups of
indigenous peoples.
Humboldt Bay: A Humboldt Bay (Woodley Island) view of Indian Island (both
within the city limits) and the memorial to fishermanEuropean exploration
of the coast of what would become northern California, beginning as early
as 1579, repeatedly missed definitively locating Humboldt Bay for nearly
three hundred years. This was due to a combination of geographic features,
often aided by weather conditions, which concealed the narrow entrance from
view. Despite a well documented 1806 sighting by Russian explorers, the
bay was not definitively known by Europeans until an 1849 overland exploration
provided a reliable accounting of the exact location of what is the second
largest bay in California. The timing of this discovery would lead to the
May 13, 1850 founding of the settlement of Eureka on its shore by the Union
and Mendocino Exploring (development) companies.
Gold rush era: Secondarily to the California Gold Rush in the Sierras,
prospectors discovered gold in the nearby Trinity region (along the Trinity,
Klamath, and Salmon Rivers). Because miners needed a convenient alternate
to the tedious overland route from Sacramento, schooners and other vessels
soon arrived on recently discovered Humboldt Bay. Though the ideal location
on Humboldt Bay adjacent to naturally deeper shipping channels ultimately
guaranteed Eureka's development as the primary city on the bay, Arcata's
proximity to developing supply lines to inland gold mines ensured supremacy
over Eureka through 1856."Eureka" is a Greek word meaning "I
have found it!" This exuberant statement of successful (or hopeful)
California Gold Rush miners is also the official Motto of the State of
California.
Eureka
is ideally, if remotely, situated within California's Redwood Empire region
due to its proximity to exceptional natural resources. These include the
spectacular coast of the Pacific Ocean, Humboldt Bay, and several rivers
in addition to Redwood National and State Parks and Humboldt Redwoods
State Park. The location of Eureka on U.S. 101 is 283 miles (455 km) north
of San Francisco and 315 miles (507 km) north and west of Sacramento.
Eureka is the closest major city to the most central point of the United
States' Pacific Coastline.
Eureka's
port facilities - the Port of Humboldt Bay - is the largest protected
deep-water port between San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound.
The
city begins with its marina on one of three islands at a narrow point
on the thirteen mile (19 km) long bay and increases in elevation slightly
as it spreads north, south, and especially to the east. This city of mostly
one and two story wooden structures (fewer than ten buildings over 5 stories)
gently encroaches at least two miles (3 km) eastward into abundant, primarily
Redwood and Douglas-fir second growth forests. The city has a traditional
grid that generally radiates toward the points of the compass, though
a correction to more accuracy in relation to the compass just east of
the older downtown and residential area is noticeable.
In
areas of post-1970 development, the previously completely removed forest,
gulches, and ravines and their streams remain, adding considerable character
to neighborhoods that because of recency in construction often lack the
splendor (and occasional disrepair) of the earlier Victorian homes.
The
transition between the official city limits and smaller unincorporated
areas described in the demographic section is mostly not discernible.
The most recently developed eastern areas include secluded developments
on a golf course (as an example) among or in close proximity to extensive
second growth forest. The city then gives way to hills and mountains of
the rugged coast range, which quickly exceed 2,000 feet (610 m) in elevation.
Annual
cultural events
Redwood Coast Jazz Festival - March
Rhododendron Festival - April
Kinetic sculpture race - May
Redwood Acres Fair and Rodeo - June
Fourth of July Celebration - July
College of the Redwoods Wood Fair - July
Blues by the Bay - August
Organic Planet Festival - August
Craftsman's Days - November
Truckers Parade - December
Museums:
Museums include the Clarke Historical Museum, the Humboldt Bay Maritime
Museum in nearby Samoa (which operates the Madaket, an historic excursion
boat operating on the bay), the Morris Graves Museum of Art, the Discovery
Museum for Children, and the Blue Ox Mill. A collection of logging equipment
spanning 150 years and other cultural assets abound in and around museums
at Fort Humboldt State Historic Park.
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