Arcata is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first colonized in 1850 as Union, was officially established in 1858, and was renamed Arcata in 1860. It is located 280 miles (450 km) north of San Francisco, and is home to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Arcata is also the location of the Arcata Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for the administration of natural resources, lands and mineral programs, including the Headwaters Forest, on approximately 200,000 acres (810 km2) of public land in Northwestern California.
Eureka is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region 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 2010 census, the population of the city was 27,191, and the population of Greater Eureka was 45,034.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) system and the northernmost campus in the system. The main campus, situated hillside at the edge of a coast redwood forest, has commanding views overlooking Arcata, much of Humboldt Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. The college town setting on the California North Coast, 8 miles (13 km) north of Eureka, 279 miles (449 km) north of San Francisco, and 654 miles (1052.51 km) north of Los Angeles is notable for its natural beauty. It is the most westerly four-year university in the contiguous United States. Humboldt is an Hispanic-serving institution (HSI).
California Redwood Coast – Humboldt County Airport, also known as Arcata–Eureka Airport and Arcata Airport, is in Humboldt County, California, United States, 8 miles (13 km) north of Arcata and 15 miles (24 km) north of Eureka, in McKinleyville.
Arcata Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wildlife Sanctuary is an innovative sewer management system employed by the city of Arcata, California.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in California listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
The Arcata and Mad River Railroad, founded in 1854, was the oldest working railroad in California. It operated on a unique narrow gauge until the 1940s when standard gauge rails were laid. Service ceased in 1983 due to landslides. It is California Historical Landmark #842.
Carlotta is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of Fortuna, at an elevation of 131 feet (40 m), about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of US Route 101 on California State Route 36.
Loleta is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. Loleta is located 5.5 miles (9 km) south of Fields Landing, and 15 miles (24 km) south of Eureka at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). The population was 783 at the 2010 census. Residents live in a central community area and rural outskirts. There are two separate Native American reservations on the rural outskirts of Table Bluff, California.
The Eureka Inn in Eureka, California is a four-story, 104-room Elizabethan Tudor Revival architectural style hotel, which opened in 1922. In February 1982, the structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Big Lagoon Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Yurok and Tolowa Indians. They are located in Humboldt County, California, and their tribal headquarters is in Arcata, California.
Albeeville is a former settlement in Klamath County, now located in Humboldt County, California. Albeeville was located on Redwood Creek, within an easy day's travel from Fort Gaston. The post office was named for Joseph Porter Albee, its first postmaster, who was murdered by Indians, and the Albeeville post office burned in November 1863.
The Pythian Castle is a building in Arcata, northwestern California, that was built during 1884-85 for the North Star chapter of the Knights of Pythias fraternal order. It is notable for its commercial Queen Anne style architecture which features five projecting towers: two square towers projecting from the center of the two street-fronting sides of the building, and three round towers projecting from the street-side corners. Patterned shingles covered the tower roofs in the past. The corner ones have "witch hat"-shaped tops and used to sport tall finials. The side ones once had cresting.
The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery near Orick, Humboldt County, California was one of the first small local fish hatcheries developed to improve the area's sport and commercial fishing, and is one of only three remaining hatcheries built in California from 1871 to 1946.
The Eureka Theater is an Art Moderne–style cinema built in 1939 in Eureka, California. The movie theater was initially proposed in 1937 as part of a larger development that would include a five-story, 162-room hotel, which was soon scaled back to the theater with flanking commercial spaces. Built by theater magnate George M. Mann, the theater was designed by noted San Francisco designer William B. David, who had once worked in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Art Department in the mid-1930s. The Eureka Theater was considered an ultra-modern movie theater when constructed in 1939 and was an expression of optimism and confidence in Eureka and Humboldt County, California as they pulled out of the Depression. The Eureka Theater ceased showing regularly scheduled movies on August 1, 1996. The theater is currently undergoing restoration, and is available for rent as a performance or event venue.
The E. Janssen Building at 422 First Street, Eureka, California, is a two-story Italianate commercial building. It was built in 1875 to be a hardware and general merchandise store. In 1973, it was the first building in Eureka to be placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and it was listed as a contributing property of the National Register Old Town Eureka Historical District in 1991. From 1998 to 2016, the building housed the HSU First Street Gallery, an art gallery run by Humboldt State University.
