The year 2014 marks the centennial of the completion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP), celebrated by driving a �golden spike� at Cain Rock in October 1914. This achievement was the culmination of a massive, six-year engineering effort to connect rail lines ending at Willits with the early lumber company railroads of the Humboldt Bay region. When it was completed, the NWP linked Eureka with San Francisco by rail, a milestone in the history of Humboldt and Northern Mendocino Counti...

Humboldt County was at the forefront of the massive redwood logging industry. The impressive size of the trees necessitated drastic technological advances. Many innovations were invented by Humboldt mill owners like John Dolbeer, whose steam donkey engine mechanized and revolutionized logging all along the West Coast. In 1896, there were 13 mills devoted to sawing redwood lumber and 26 mills making redwood shingles operating in Humboldt County. Other related industries, such as shipbuildin...

Explore the history of the Fortuna Rodeo from its origins in 1921 up to the present day with this intriguing history packed with photographs and lore of Humboldt County, California. The rodeo continues as a mainstay of Fortuna, with the 2020 event being the first to be canceled since the end of World War II. In addition to the rodeo itself, this book paints a portrait of the history and growth of a small California town over the past century. Hundreds of photographs from the collections of...