Falk Archaeological District | |
Location | Headwaters Forest Reserve, Humboldt County, California, United States |
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Coordinates | 40°41′22.1″N124°7′50.94″W / 40.689472°N 124.1308167°W |
Built | 1884 |
NRHP reference No. | 100009504 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 9, 2023 |
Designated HD | HD |
The Falk Archaeological District encompasses a historic town and lumber mill site in Northern California, United States. Included in the Headwaters Forest Reserve in 1999, the town was founded by Noah and Elijah Falk. [1] The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023. [2]
Noah Falk came to California in 1854 and formed the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company with two partners. The town was built around the sawmill in 1884 to house the families of immigrant lumberjacks from Sweden, Norway, Ireland and Nova Scotia.Workers toiled deep in the now-protected redwood stands, felling trees, shipping them on Falk’s very own railroad to the mill, and finally sending the lumber to worldwide markets via a port at present day Eureka. [2] The town of 400 with a cookhouse, a dance hall, a general store, a post office and a school [3] thrived until 1937 when the Great Depression closed the lumber mill and the town was soon abandoned. [4] Among the last residents were Charlie Webb and his wife who acted as property caretakers for the lumber company. [3] After Charlie died, the lumber company burned and demolished the buildings in 1979 due to liability concerns and a plaque stands in its place. [5]
Remnants of the townsite are visible and marked with interpretive signs along the first half-mile of the Elk River Trail. The restored locomotive barn serves as an education center. [2]
Humboldt County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka.
Eureka is a city and the county seat of Humboldt County, located on the North Coast of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Bay, 270 miles (435 km) north of San Francisco and 100 miles (161 km) south of the Oregon border. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 26,512. As of the 2010 census, the population of Greater Eureka was 45,034.
Fortuna is a city on the northeast shore of the Eel River, approximately 9 miles (14 km) from where it enters the Pacific Ocean, and is on U.S. Route 101 in west-central Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 12,516 at the 2020 census, up from 11,926 at the 2000 census.
Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous old-growth forest of coast redwoods. It is located 30 miles (48 km) south of Eureka, California, near Weott in southern Humboldt County, within Northern California, named after the great German nineteenth-century scientist, Alexander von Humboldt. The park was established by the Save the Redwoods League in 1921 largely from lands purchased from the Pacific Lumber Company. Beginning with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third-largest park in the California State Park system, now containing 51,651 acres (20,902 ha) through acquisitions and gifts to the state.
Garberville is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located on the South Fork of the Eel River 52 miles (84 km) south-southeast of Eureka, at an elevation of 535 feet (163 m). The population was 913 at the 2010 United States Census. It is approximately 200 miles (320 km) north of San Francisco, California, and within a fifteen-minute drive to Humboldt Redwoods State Park and a sixty-minute drive to Eureka, the county seat. Garberville is the primary town in the area known as the Mateel Region, consisting of parts of the Mattole and Eel River watersheds in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties.
The Headwaters Forest Reserve is a group of old growth coast redwood groves in the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion near Humboldt Bay of the U.S. state of California. Comprising about 7,472 acres (30.24 km2), it is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.
Fern Canyon is a canyon in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County, California, western United States. The park is managed in cooperation with other nearby redwoods state parks and Redwood National Park. It is named for the ferns growing on the 50-foot (15 m) high walls, through which runs Home Creek. Fern Canyon is recognized as a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is a state park, located in Humboldt County, California, near the town of Orick and 50 miles (80 km) north of Eureka. The 14,000 acres (57 km2) park is a coastal sanctuary for old-growth Coast Redwood trees.
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, and also commonly known as PL, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located 28 miles (45 km) south of Eureka and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisco. Begun in 1863, PALCO was managed over most of the twentieth century by generations of the Simon J. Murphy, Sr. Family or managers chosen by the Murphys from 1905 through 1985. Primary operations existed in massive log storage and milling operations at the historic company town of Scotia, California, located adjacent to US 101 along the Eel River. Secondary mills were located in nearby Fortuna and Carlotta. PALCO had extensive timber holdings exceeding well over 200,000 acres (890 km²) in the Redwood and Douglas-Fir forests of Humboldt County. For generations, it was one of the largest private employers in the entire region, appropriately known as the Redwood Empire.
Old Town Eureka in Eureka, California, is a historic district listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. It is a 350-acre (1.4 km2) area containing 154 buildings mostly from the Victorian era. The core of the district runs the length of First, Second, and Third Streets, between "C" and "M" Streets, and includes many types of architecture including Eastlake, Queen Ann, Greek Revival, Classical Revival, and Second Empire styles from the 1850s to the 20th century. Though not officially within the district, the Carson Mansion commands the highest elevation at the eastern edge of the district.
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.
Weott is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located 233 miles (375 km) north of San Francisco and 25 miles (40 km) due east of the Pacific Ocean. Lower Weott is situated at an elevation of 330 feet (100 m) along the Avenue of the Giants scenic highway and in the flood plain of the South Fork of the Eel River. The population was 288 at the 2010 census.
Sue-meg State Park is a 640-acre California State Park (260 ha) in Humboldt County, California near Trinidad on the Redwood Coast, situated on a lushly forested promontory above the Pacific Ocean.
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.
Crannell is a former settlement in Humboldt County, California. It is located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Trinidad, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m).
Freshwater is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located on Freshwater Creek, a major tributary to Humboldt Bay, 7.5 miles (12 km) south of Arcata, at an elevation of 92 feet. The area is the site of a now logged massive old-growth redwood forest and prevalent remaining second-growth forest. The trees in the area are storied to have been some of the largest coast redwoods to have ever existed. On September 24, 1964, the large area and all its residents became part of unincorporated Eureka, within the 95503 zipcode. Freshwater Park, a Humboldt County Park, which has picnic areas and a swimming area each summer, is located nearby on Freshwater Creek.
Orick is a census-designated place situated on the banks of the Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, California. It is located 43 miles (69 km) north of Eureka, at an elevation of 26 feet. The population was 357 at the 2010 census.
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Greg King is an American journalist and environmental activist in Northern California. He is President and Executive Director of Siskiyou Land Conservancy, a non-profit land trust.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Bureau of Land Management .