25 Things you never knew about Humboldt County
Humboldt County is a fascinating place to live or visit for so many reasons. Whether you are an artist, a cinephile, architectural buff, naturalist, activist, outdoorsman, or historian you will find something special about Humboldt. Here are just a few of the reasons why Humboldt is such a unique place.
1. Brendan Fraser (star of “The Mummy”) lived in Eureka as a child.
2. Humboldt Bay is California’s second largest natural bay.
3. Humboldt County produces accounts for 20% of California’s lumber production.
4. More than 9 tribes make up the indigenous peoples of Humboldt.
5. Humboldt has over 40% of California’s remaining old growth forest.
6. Humboldt is named after Alexander Von Humboldt, but he never actually visited the county.
7. There are 11 states in the U.S. that have either a town or county named Humboldt.
8. California’s first oil wells were drilled in Petrolia.
9. Chinese settlers have been twice expelled from Humboldt County, once in 1885 and again in 1906.
10. Humboldt Redwoods State Park has the largest contiguous old-growth stand in the world.
11. Lloyd Bridges (father of “The Dude” Lebowski) lived in Eureka in his youth.
12. The world’s tallest tree called Hyperion, is in Humboldt County and reaches six stories higher than the statue of liberty.
13. The “Return of the Jedi”, “Humboldt County”, “Outbreak”, “The Majestic” and “Jurassic Park: Lost World” were filmed in Humboldt County.
14. Humboldt County has more artists per capita than other county in California.
15. One of the most written about and photographed Victorian style homes in the United States is the Carson Mansion in Eureka.
16. There are three types of Redwoods: Dawn Redwoods of central China, Coast redwoods of California and Southern Oregon, and Giant Sequoia of the Sierra Nevadas.
17. 53% of HSU students say they have smoked marijuana.
18. The Eureka Inn is Eureka’s oldest existing commercial establishment.
19. Goose Pens are what you call the base of a redwood that has been hollowed out by fire, but the top of the tree is still alive. They are so common and so large that early settlers used them to corral livestock.
20. Redwoods first made their debut in California a mere 20 million years ago.
21. Redwood burls are actually a type of tree wart that grow on the side of trees.
22. Redwoods live between 500-2,000 years.
23. William Carson, builder of Carson mansion claimed to have been the first one to fell logs commercially on Humboldt Bay.
24. The Carson Mansion cost $80,000 to build in 1886. That is over $2,000,000 in today’s economy.
25. Fernbridge, built in 1911, is the oldest concrete reinforced bridge in existence.
As you can see there is a lot to be proud of and there is also a lot to reconcile. We can only hope there will be more to cherish in the years to come and not less.
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