Humboldt County is located
on the far North Coast of
California
, about 200 miles north of San Francisco
. In the
2000
census, the
county
had a population of 126,518.
The two largest population centers are
Eureka
, the county seat, and
the smaller college town of Arcata
, home to
Humboldt State
University
. Both cities are located adjacent to Humboldt Bay
, California's second largest natural bay.
Area cities and towns are known for hundreds of ornate examples of
Victorian architecture.
Humboldt is a densely forested, rural
county situated in
Northern California's rugged
Coast Ranges. With nearly of combined
public and private forest in production, Humboldt County accounts
for twenty percent of the total
forest
production for all of California. The county contains over
forty percent of all remaining
old growth
Coast Redwood forests, the vast majority of
which is protected or strictly conserved within dozens of national,
state, and local forests and parks, totaling approximately 680,000
acres (over 1,000 square miles).
History
The original inhabitants of the area now known as Humboldt County
include the
Wiyot,
Yurok,
Hupa,
Karuk,
Chilula,
Whilkut, and the
southern Athabascans, including the
Mattole
and
Nongatl.
Andrés
de Urdaneta hit the coast near Cape Mendocino
, California, then followed the coast south to Acapulco in
1565. Spanish traders made unintended visits to
California with the Manila Galleons
on their return trips from the Philippines
beginning in 1565. Humboldt County was
formed in 1853 from parts of Trinity County
. The first recorded entry by people of
European origin was a landing by the Spanish
in 1775.
The county
derived its name from Humboldt Bay
. The first recorded entry of Humboldt Bay by
non-natives was an 1806 visit from a sea
otter hunting party from Sitka
employed by
the Russian American
Company. The hunting party included Captain Jonathan
Winship, an American
, and some Aleut
hunters. The bay was not visited again by people of European
origin until 1849 when Josiah Gregg's party visited. In 1850,
Douglas Ottinger and
Hans Buhne entered the bay, naming it Humboldt in
honor of the great naturalist and world explorer, Baron
Alexander von Humboldt.
The area around Humboldt Bay was once solely inhabited by the
Wiyot Indian tribe.
One of
the largest Wiyot villages, Tolowot
, was located on Gunther Island
(AKA Indian Island and AKA Bloody Island) in Humboldt Bay. Founded
circa 900, it contains a shell
midden 6 acres
(24,000 m²) in size and 14 feet (4 m) deep.
It was the site of
the February 26, 1860 massacre of the Wiyot people that was
recorded by Bret Harte, then living in
Union, now called Arcata
. Between 60 and 200 Wiyot men, women, and
children were murdered that night. In 1998, musician
Frank Black wrote and recorded a song about this
event, called "Humboldt County Massacre."
Tolowot is now an
archaeological site, designated Gunther Island Site 67
, and is a National Historic
Landmark.
State
historic landmarks in Humboldt County include Trinidad Head, Fort Humboldt
, The Old Arrow Tree, Centerville Beach Cross, Camp
Curtis, the Town of Trinidad
, the City of Eureka, California's first drilled oil wells in Petrolia
, the Jacoby
Building, the Old Indian Village of Tsurai
in Trinidad,
the Arcata and Mad River Railroad Company, the Humboldt Harbor
Historical District, and the town of Ferndale
.
On
February 5 and February 6, 1885, Eureka's entire Chinese
population of 300 men and 20 women were expelled
after a gunfight between rival Chinese gangs (tongs) resulted in
the wounding of a 12 year old boy and the death of 56 year old
David Kendall, a Eureka City Councilman. After the shooting,
an
angry mob of 600 Eurekans met and then
informed the Chinese that they were no longer wanted in Eureka and
would be
hanged if they were to stay in town
longer than 3 p.m. the next day.
They were put on two steamships and
shipped to San Francisco
. No-one was killed in the expulsion. Another
Chinese expulsion occurred during 1906 in a cannery on the
Eel River, in which 23 Chinese
cannery workers were expelled after local loggers objected to their
presence.
However, some Chinese remained in the
Orleans
area, where some white landowners sheltered and
purchased food for the Chinese mineworkers until after racial
tension passed. Chinese did not return to the coastal cities
until the 1950s.
Climate
The coastal zone of the county experience wet, cool winters and
dry, mild foggy summers. In the winter highs range from the low
40's to high 50's (5 to 15°C), with lows in the 30's and 40's (0 to
9°C). Coastal summers are cool to mild, with highs in the 60's (16
to 21°C) and frequent fogs. Moving inland one can find abundant
sunshine and warmth, a welcome change from the coasts foggy climes.
For this very reason coastal residents sometimes prefer to head
inland in the summer to take brief respite from the perennial fog
which is trapped by the bordering redwood forest as it moves
inland. Coastal Summer highs range from the mid-50s to upper 60's
(13 to 21°C), with lows from the upper 40's to mid 50's (8 to
13°C). The highest temperatures tend to occur at Woodley Island in
the low to mid 70's (21 to 24°C). The coastal zone experiences a
number of frosty nights in winter and early spring, though snowfall
and hard freezes are rare. Coastal winters are cool and wet. Winter
rainstorms are frequent, with averages from to a year varying with
elevation.
Inland areas of the county also experience wet, cool winters.
Snowfall is common at elevations over throughout the winter months.
Summer displays the sharpest difference between the coastal and
inland climates. Inland regions of Humboldt County experience highs
from the 80's to the 90's (27 to 37°C) depending on the elevation
and distance from the ocean. Summer highs of 100 degrees (38°C) are
common in eastern parts of the county including Orleans, Hoopa, and
Willow Creek.
Geography
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the
county has a total area of 4,052 square miles
(10,495 km²), of which, 3,572 square miles
(9,253 km²) of it is land and 480 square miles
(1,243 km²) of it (11.84%) is water.
Located
inside Humboldt County is Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point in California(longitude124 degrees, 24 minutes, 30
seconds).
Bay
Humboldt
Bay, the only deep water port between San Francisco and
Coos Bay,
Oregon
, is located on the coast at the midpoint of the
county.
Rivers
Humboldt County's major rivers include (in order of flow-cubic
meters per second-from largest to smallest):
The list of other smaller rivers and at least one large creek
include the following:
Van Duzen,
South Fork Eel River (in both
Humboldt and Mendocino),
North Fork
Eel River,
Mattole, Salmon, Elk,
Bear, and
Little
River, and Redwood Creek.
Parks and other protected areas
National
Park
Conservation area
Forests
Wildlife refuge
California State Parks
Cities and towns
The
majority of residents live in the Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna
micropolitan
area, located on a coastal plain adjacent to Humboldt Bay.
Incorporated cities
Unincorporated towns and areas
Adjacent counties
Transportation infrastructure
Major highways
Public transportation
- Humboldt Transit
Authority operates two fixed route transit bus systems:
- Redwood Transit System
provides intercity service to and
within communities between Trinidad and Scotia, with occasional
service to Manila and Loleta. HTA also offers service between
McKinleyville or Arcata and Willow Creek and an express bus between Arcata and College of the
Redwoods when classes are in session.
- Eureka Transit Service,
operated in the City of Eureka, provides local service on four scheduled routes (one hour
headway) in Eureka and its adjacent
unincorporated communities. Connections can be made to the Redwood
Transit System at several places in Eureka.
- Arcata and Mad
River Transit System, operated by the City of Arcata with
funding from Humboldt State University. A&MRTS provides fixed
route local bus service on two scheduled routes (one hour headway)
in Arcata and an additional route between the Valley West
Neighborhood and the university when classes are in session.
- The city of Blue Lake and the Blue Lake Rancheria operates the
Blue Lake
Rancheria Transit Authority. Blue Lake Rancheria Transit
provides fixed route intercity transit bus service (one hour
headway) between Arcata and the Blue Lake Rancheria Indian Reservation and casino and local service within the city of
Blue Lake.
- Del Norte County
's Redwood Coast
Transit operates fixed route intercity transit bus service
between Arcata and Crescent City
or Smith River
.
- Amtrak Thruway bus has stops in many towns in the region,
including Eureka, Arcata, and Fortuna. These stops are not managed
by Amtrak and therefore have no services beyond serving passengers.
Full
service is only provided at the train station in Martinez
, near San Francisco.
Airports
Arcata-Eureka Airport
is located in McKinleyville (north of
Arcata). Commercial flights areavailable.Other (general
aviation) airports are located at Dinsmore, Garberville, Kneeland,
Murray Field (Eureka) and Rohnerville (Fortuna).
Seaport
Port
of Humboldt Bay - on Humboldt Bay, California's second largest
natural bay.
Agriculture
Humboldt County is known for its impressive redwood trees, and many
acres of private redwood timberland make Humboldt the top timber
producer in California. The lush river bottoms adjacent to the
ocean are renowned for producing rich, high-quality dairy products.
Somewhat more inland the warmer valleys have historically produced
abundant apples and other fruit. More recently vineyards have been
planted in the Trinity, Klamath, and upper Eel river valleys.
Dairy
Humboldt County is known for its quality family operated
dairy farms.
The Humboldt
Creamery, a significant producer of high grade ice cream and other dairy products, still operates from the
original headquarters located at Fernbridge
adjacent to the Eel River.
Marijuana
Humboldt County is also widely known for its cultural attributes
associated with the cultivation and proliferation of
marijuana. Though the majority of this
cultivation is unlawful, growers of relatively small amounts are
sometimes licensed and protected under county guidelines for
medicinal marijuana use under the auspices of
California Proposition
215.
David Samuels of
The New Yorker describes the
county as "the heartland of high-grade marijuana farming in
California." The 2008 independent film
Humboldt County centers on the
county's marijuana cultivation subculture.
Politics
Presidential election results
| Year |
DEM |
GOP |
Others |
| 2008 |
62.8%
30,807 |
34.0% 10,704 |
3.2% 1,558 |
| 2004 |
57.7%
37,988 |
39.0% 25,714 |
3.3% 2,184 |
| 2000 |
44.4%
24,851 |
41.5% 23,219 |
14.1% 7,902 |
| 1996 |
44.2%
24,628 |
35.5% 19,803 |
20.3% 11,326 |
| 1992 |
48.1%
28,854 |
30.5% 18,299 |
21.4% 12,868 |
| 1988 |
57.1%
29,781 |
41.2% 21,460 |
1.7% 905 |
| 1984 |
46.8% 25,217 |
51.6%
27,832 |
1.6% 842 |
| 1980 |
35.2% 17,113 |
49.4%
24,047 |
15.5% 7,532 |
| 1976 |
54.2%
23,500 |
41.6% 18,034 |
4.2% 1,838 |
| 1972 |
46.2% 21,132 |
48.8%
22,345 |
5.0% 2,286 |
| 1968 |
45.5% 16,476 |
46.2%
16,719 |
8.3% 3,019 |
| 1964 |
66.3%
25,515 |
33.5% 12,909 |
0.2% 75 |
| 1960 |
52.7%
20,391 |
46.7% 18,074 |
0.6% 226 |
|
Humboldt is a
Democratic county in
Presidential and
congressional elections. The
last Republican presidential candidate to win a majority in the
county was
Ronald Reagan, a
Californian, in
1984
Humboldt is part of
California's 1st
congressional district, which is held by Democrat
Mike Thompson. In the
state legislature, Humboldt is
part of the 1st Assembly district, which is held by Democrat
Wes Chesbro, and the 2nd Senate
district, which is held by Democrat
Pat
Wiggins.
On Nov. 4, 2008 Humboldt County voted 60.1% against Proposition 8
which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex
marriages.
Area organizations
Demographics
As of the
2000 United States
Census, there were 126,518 people and 51,238
households in Humboldt County, and the
population density was 35 people per
square mile (14/km²). By 2006, the population was projected to have
increased to 131,361 by the California Department of Finance. There
were 55,912 housing units at an average density of 16 per
square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was
84.71%
White, 0.88%
Black or
African American, 5.72%
Native American, 1.65%
Asian, 0.19%
Pacific Islander, 2.45% from
other races, and 4.39%
from two or more races. 6.49% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
13.3% were of
German, 10.7% Irish, 10.3% English, 7.4% American and 5.7% Italian
ancestry according to Census
2000. 92.1% spoke
English and 4.6%
Spanish as their first language.
There were 51,238 households out of which 28.5% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were
married couples living together, 11.8% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families.
28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.2% under the
age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45
to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $31,226, and
the median income for a family was $39,370. Males had a median
income of $32,210 versus $23,942 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$17,203. About 12.9% of families and 19.5% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 22.5%
of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.
Educational and cultural institutions
The County is served by many school districts, including charter
and private schools. All school districts are
listed in a
separate article.
Environment
Humboldt County contains a diversity of plant and animal species,
with significant forest and coastal habitats. In coastal areas
there are extensive amounts of
redwood
forests.A prominent understory shrub is the
toyon, whose northern range limit is in Humboldt
County.
Media
Print
The only major locally published regional daily newspaper is the
Times-Standard. Owned by
Media News Group since 1996, it has been in
continuous
publication since
1854. This national publisher also prints, locally, the
Humboldt
Beacon, the
Redwood Times, and the
Tri-City Weekly, a
county-wide classified paper. It also produces
Northcoast 101,
an online business directory of the region.
Other regional weekly
and bi-weekly publications include the North Coast Journal, the McKinleyville
Press, the Independent, the Arcata Eye, the Two Rivers
Tribune, and The Lumberjack, a
Humboldt State
University student publication.Online readers may find
as many as
170 Humboldt County blogs covering the region's
topics in a variety of forms.
Television
Humboldt
County's locally produced television stations, KIEM
and
KEET
, are based in Eureka. KIEM produces the only
local TV newscast for Humboldt County, while KEET is the only PBS
station in the region.
CBS and Fox affiliates KVIQ
and
KBVU
, the latter a semi-satellite of KCVU, are
based in Chico and ABC affiliate KAEF
, a
semi-satellite of KRCR-TV, is based in Redding. In previous decades
all major networks had production capacity in Eureka.
Radio
For-profit stations include
KFMI,
KRED,
KXGO,
KHUM,
KSLG,
KWPT and
KATA.
Non-profit stations include the Hoopa Tribe's KIDE, Redway's KMUD, Humboldt State
University-based KHSU and KRFHand Jefferson Public Radio's KNHM and
KNHT.
Events
- Arcata Bay Oyster Festival on the Arcata Plaza (June)
- Azalea Festival in Mckinleyville (June)
- Avenue of The Giants
Marathon (May)
- Blues by the bay in Eureka (July)
- Chicken Wingfest in Eureka (September)
- Craftsman's Days in Eureka (November)
- College of the Redwoods Wood Fair (Summer)
- Fourth of July Festival in Old Town
Eureka
(July)
- Gay Pride in Arcata (September)
- Godwit Days (Birding festival) in Arcata (April)
- Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale (August)
- Apple Harvest Festival in Fortuna (October)
- Humboldt Film Festival (March-April)
- Two Rivers Harvest Festival in Willow Creek(October)
- Humboldt Redwoods
Marathon (October)
- Mushroom Fair in Eureka (November)
- North Country Fair in Arcata (September)
- Organic Planet Festival in Eureka (September)
- Redwood Acres Fair in Eureka (June)
- Redwood Coast Jazz Festival in Eureka (Last Weekend of
March)
- Redwood Run in Southern Humboldt (June)
- Reggae on the River at Benbow in Southern Humboldt
(July)
- Reggae Rising on the Eel on the Humboldt / Mendocino County
border (August)
- Rhododendron Festival (and parade) in Eureka (April)
- Roll on the Mattole at the Mattole Grange in Southern Humboldt
(Summer)
- Summer Arts and Music Festival at Benbow in Southern
Humboldt (June)
- Trinidad to Clam Beach
Run (February)
- Trinidad Fish Festival (June)
- Tour of the Unknown Coast (by Bicycle) in Southern Humboldt
(May)
- Trucker's Parade around Humboldt Bay (December)
- Westhaven Blackberry Festival (Last Sunday in July)
- World-Championship Kinetic
Sculpture Race (Memorial Day Weekend - Late May)
See also
References
- Discover
Humboldt Bay. - Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and
Conservation District. - Retrieved: 2008-07-13
- Forestry, Forest Industry, and Forest Products Consumption
in California. University of California,
Davis: Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. - (Adobe
Acrobat *.PDF document). - Retrieved: 2008-03-30
- Area of Old-Growth Forests in California, Oregon,
and Washington. - United States Forest
Service - USDA. - (Adobe
Acrobat *.PDF document). - Retrieved: 2007-11-18
- Humboldt County Public Lands. - Humboldt County
Community Development Services. - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). -
Retrieved: 2007-11-19
- Van Kirk, Susie. - "Humboldt County: A Briefest of Histories". - Humboldt
County Library. - (c/o Humboldt County Historical
Society). - May 1999
- Humboldt County State Designated Historical
Landmarks. - California Historical Landmarks
- Easthouse, Keith. - "The Chinese Expulsion: Looking Back on a Dark
Episode". - North Coast Journal. - February 27,
2003. - Retrieved: 2006-11-26
- US Census Micropolitan Areas.
- Samuels, David. - A Reporter at Large: "Dr. Kush: How medical marijuana is transforming
the weed industry". The New Yorker, July 28, 2008.
- California State Statistical Abstract
2007.
- Neil G. Sugihara, Jan W. Van Wagtendonk, Kevin E. Shaffer,
JoAnn Fites-Kaufman, Andrea E. Thode (2006) Fire in
California's Ecosystems, University of California Press, 596
pages ISBN 0520246055
- C. Michael Hogan (2008) Toyon: Heteromeles
arbutifolia, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg [1]
External links
- south
- northeast.svg/25px-US_101_(CA).svg)
U.S. Route 101
State Route 36
State Route 96
State Route 169
State Route 200 (unsigned)
State Route 211 (maybe unsigned
(?))
State Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants - the old U.S.
101)
State Route 255
State Route 271
State Route 283 (the old U.S.
101)
State Route 299
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