Elk | |
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 Beach in Elk | |
  Elk Location in California  Elk Elk (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 39°07′49″N123°43′04″W / 39.13028°N 123.71778°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Mendocino County |
| Elevation | 135 ft (41 m) |
| ZIP code | 95432 |
| Area code | 707 |
| FIPS code | 06-21992 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1655992 |
Elk (formerly Sadie Gravlee and Elk River) is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. [1]
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.
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]
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.
 |
| Number | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin Locomotive Works | 4-4-0 | 1873 | 3495 | originally North Pacific Coast Railroad #1; purchased 1876; scrapped 1903 [6] | |
| 1 | Lima Locomotive Works | Shay geared | 9 May 1903 | 800 | built for L.E.White Lumber Company [7] |
| 2 | Lima Locomotive Works | Shay geared | 8 December 1904 | 957 | built for L.E.White Lumber Company [7] |
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | Lima Locomotive Works | Shay geared | 27 October 1917 | 2942 | built for Goodyear Redwood Company [7] |
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Caspar is an 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).
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.
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.
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.
Samoa is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Eureka, at an elevation of 23 feet. Samoa is located in the northern peninsula of Humboldt Bay and is the site of the Samoa Cookhouse, one of the last remaining original, lumber-camp style cookhouses. The name Samoa is used interchangeably with the peninsula it occupies. The population was 258 at the 2010 census.
Whitethorn is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California, United States. It is located 9.5 miles southwest of Garberville, at an elevation of 1,024 feet, with a population of 817. Whitethorn shares a ZIP Code, 95589, with Shelter Cove, California. It is located along California's Lost Coast.
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.
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.
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.
The Fort Bragg and Southeastern Railroad was formed by Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a consolidation of logging railways extending inland from Albion, California on the coast of Mendocino County. The railroad and its predecessors operated from August 1, 1885 to January 16, 1930. The line was merged into the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad in 1907; but planned physical connection was never completed.
Municipalities and communities of Mendocino County, California, United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities |
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| Indian reservations | ||
| Former settlements | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |