Elk, Mendocino County, California

Last updated

Elk
Beach-Elk.jpg
Beach in Elk
California Locator Map with US.PNG
Red pog.svg
Elk
Location in California
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Elk
Elk (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°07′49″N123°43′04″W / 39.13028°N 123.71778°W / 39.13028; -123.71778
Country United States
State California
County Mendocino County
Elevation
[1]
135 ft (41 m)
ZIP code
95432
Area code 707
FIPS code06-21992
GNIS feature ID 1655992

Elk (formerly Greenwood and Elk River) is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. [1]

Contents

Geography

It is located 22 miles (35 km) south of Fort Bragg, [2] at an elevation of 135 feet (41 m). [1]

Elk has a population of 208. It is located on the coast at the crossroads of State Route 1 and Philo-Greenwood Road. Albion, Little River, and Mendocino lie to the north, and Manchester and Point Arena to the south. Inland are Navarro, Philo, and Boonville.

History

Sunset in Elk Elk Sunset.jpg
Sunset in Elk
View of the ocean and the rock formations from Elk Rock formation in Elk, California.jpg
View of the ocean and the rock formations from Elk

Elk was originally called "Greenwood," after the Greenwood brothers, [2] early homesteaders and sons of mountain man Caleb Greenwood and his half-Crow wife, one of the rescuers of the Donner Party. When the post office was opened, in 1887, [2] there was already another Greenwood in California so it was called Elk Post Office. Eventually the name came to refer to the town. It is an outgrowth of an earlier town called Cuffy's Cove and the cemetery is located at that townsite 1 mile (2 km) north of Elk. When pioneer lumberman Lorenzo White was unable to reach a satisfactory deal with the owners of the lumber chutes at Cuffy's Cove to ship out his redwood product, he constructed a wharf out along a string of rocks in the center of what is now Elk. When he built a large steam sawmill and 3-foot (90 cm) gauge railroad, the new employment drained the town of Cuffy's Cove, which was eventually abandoned. The sawmill was producing 80,000 board feet (200 m3) of lumber per day by 1890. The mill was sold to Goodyear Redwood Company in 1916. Elk River Company took over the sawmill when Goodyear went bankrupt in 1932. The local redwood lumber industry economy collapsed when the uninsured sawmill burned in 1936. [3]

Greenwood - Elk Beach, Mendocino County, California ElkBeach MendocinoCounty.jpg
Greenwood - Elk Beach, Mendocino County, California

A new sawmill was built in about 1953 and another followed in 1963. These operated until the late 1960s, when the redwood and Douglas fir was mostly logged out. After some quiet times, the town has had a rebirth [4] as a recreation destination particularly as a result of the pandemic with people wanting to get out of the urban areas. [5] A couple of the larger old houses are now bed and breakfast inns, and the state has acquired Greenwood State Beach and the original mill site as a state park. The ZIP Code is 95432. The community is inside area code 707.

Elk Logging Railway locomotives

NumberBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotes
Baldwin Locomotive Works 4-4-0 18733495originally North Pacific Coast Railroad #1; purchased 1876; scrapped 1903 [6]
1 Lima Locomotive Works Shay geared 9 May 1903800built for L.E.White Lumber Company [7]
2 Lima Locomotive Works Shay geared 8 December 1904957built for L.E.White Lumber Company [7]
3
4 Lima Locomotive Works Shay geared 27 October 19172942built for Goodyear Redwood Company [7]

Government

In the California State Legislature, Elk is in the 2nd Senate District , represented by Democrat Mike McGuire, and in the 2nd Assembly District , represented by Democrat Jim Wood. [8]

In the United States House of Representatives, Elk is in California's 2nd congressional district , represented by Democrat Jared Huffman. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendocino County, California</span> County in California, United States

Mendocino County is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Bragg, California</span> City in California, United States

Fort Bragg is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is 24 miles (39 km) west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet (26 m). Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philo, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Philo is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Boonville, at an elevation of 331 feet (101 m). The population was 319 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navarro River</span> River in California, United States of America

The Navarro River is a 28.3-mile-long (45.5 km) river in Mendocino County, California, United States. It flows northwest through the Coastal Range to the Pacific Ocean. The main stem of the Navarro River begins less than 1 mile (2 km) south of the town of Philo at the confluence of Rancheria Creek and Anderson Creek. The mouth of the Navarro is 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Mendocino. State Route 128 starts from the intersection of State Route 1 at the mouth of the Navarro River, and follows the river valley upstream to Philo. The river is close to the highway through the lower canyon but is some distance south of the highway as the Anderson Valley widens upstream of Wendling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albion, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Albion is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located 15 miles (24 km) south of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 174 feet (53 m). Albion had a population of 153 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gualala, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Gualala is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County in the U.S. state of California. It is located north of The Sea Ranch and south of Point Arena, California. Gualala shares its southern border with the southern border of Mendocino County. It is located on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Gualala River, on State Route 1. It serves as a commercial center for the surrounding area. Gualala was once a logging town, but tourism is now its central economic activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navarro River Redwoods State Park</span> State park in Mendocino County, California

Navarro River Redwoods State Park is a state park in Mendocino County, California, consisting of 660 acres (2.7 km2) of second-growth redwood forest in a narrow stretch 11 miles (18 km) long on both banks of the Navarro River, from the town of Navarro to the river's confluence with the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendy Woods State Park</span> Park in Mendocino County, California

Hendy Woods State Park is a California state park, located in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County. It is known for its old-growth coast redwoods and also provides camping facilities near the wineries of the Anderson Valley. It is named after Joshua Hendy, who owned the land and stipulated that it be protected; it passed through several owners after Hendy without being logged, before becoming part of the California State Park system in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Coast</span> Region of California, United States

The Lost Coast is a mostly natural and undeveloped area of the California North Coast in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, which includes the King Range. It was named the "Lost Coast" after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s. In addition, the steepness and related geotechnical challenges of the coastal mountains made this stretch of coastline too costly for state highway or county road builders to establish routes through the area, leaving it the most undeveloped and remote portion of the California coast. Without any major highways, communities in the Lost Coast region such as Petrolia, Shelter Cove, and Whitethorn are somewhat isolated from the rest of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 128</span> Highway in California from the Mendocino coast to the Sacramento Valley

State Route 128 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting the Mendocino coast to the Sacramento Valley, through the state's Wine Country. It runs from State Route 1 near Albion to Interstate 505 in Winters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspar, California</span> Place in California, United States

Caspar is a unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, 4 miles (6 km) north of Mendocino, at an elevation of 82 feet (25 m). It is bounded on three sides by state parks: the historic 1909 Point Cabrillo Light Station is nearby to the south, Jug Handle State Natural Reserve lies to the north, and its coast forms Caspar Headlands State Beach. The population was 500 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Caspar as a census-designated place (CDP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calpella, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Calpella is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located on the Russian River, 6 miles (10 km) north of Ukiah. It is situated within the Ukiah Valley, at the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and State Route 20. The population was 799 at the 2020 census, up from 679 in 2010. The small town is the site of the Mendocino Redwood Company mill and offices, which controls ten percent of the private land in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albion River</span> River in Mendocino County, California (USA)

The Albion River is an 18.1-mile-long (29.1 km) river in Mendocino County, California. The river drains about 43 square miles (110 km2) on the Mendocino Coast and empties into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Albion, California, where California State Route 1 crosses it on the Albion River Bridge. The river's overall direction is east to west, but it moves significantly in the north-south direction. The tributaries of the river include Railroad Gulch, Pleasant Valley Creek, Duck Pond Gulch, South Fork Albion River, Tom Bell Creek, North Fork Albion River, and Marsh Creek. The river's most inland point is only 15 miles (24 km) from the coast, and its highest elevation is about 1,570 feet (480 m) above sea level. There is a large estuary at the mouth of the river, and tidal waters travel up to 5 miles (8 km) upstream. The Albion River was previously used to power a sawmill on the river mouth, but there are no major dams or reservoirs on the river. The river provides recreation, groundwater recharge and industrial water supply for the community of Albion, and wildlife habitat including cold freshwater habitat for fish migration and spawning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotia, California</span> Census designated place in California, United States

Scotia, formerly known as Forestville until 1888, is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located on the Eel River along U.S. Route 101, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) southeast of Fortuna and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisco. Scotia has a population of 850.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fieldbrook, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Fieldbrook is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Arcata, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m). The population was 860 following the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitethorn, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Alton is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-southeast of Fortuna, at an elevation of 62 feet. Alton is located along U.S. Route 101 and State Route 36. The ZIP Code is 95540. The community is inside area code 707.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwood State Beach</span> State park in California, United States

Greenwood State Beach, also known as Elk Beach, is a state-protected beach of California, United States. It is located in the unincorporated village of Elk in Mendocino County. It is located about 15 miles (24 km) north of Point Arena on Highway 1. The 47-acre (19 ha) park was established in 1978.

Rockport is a former settlement in an unincorporated area of Mendocino County, California. It is located 7.25 miles (12 km) north-northwest of Westport, at an elevation of 30 feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucksport, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Bucksport was a town in Humboldt County, California. The original location was 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of downtown Eureka, on Humboldt Bay about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of entrance. at an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m). Prior to American settlement a Wiyot village named Kucuwalik stood here.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Elk, Mendocino County, California
  2. 1 2 3 Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 55. ISBN   1-884995-14-4.
  3. Carranco, Lynwood (1982). Redwood Lumber Industry. Golden West Books. pp. 206–207. ISBN   0-87095-084-3.
  4. "Enjoy The Simple Life When You Visit This Tiny Rural Community In Northern California". OnlyInYourState®. August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  5. Tunstall, Jim; Tunstall, Cynthia. "Elk, a lovely little town that time forgot". SFGate . Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  6. Dickinson, A. Bray (1974). Narrow Gauge to the Redwoods. Trans-Anglo Books. p. 132.
  7. 1 2 3 Koch, Michael (1971). The Shay Locomotive Titan of the Timber. The World Press. pp. 409, 414&448.
  8. "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  9. "California's 2nd Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2013.