Acme Garnishing Set & Oriental Mixture Tobacco

This is one of many  photos that will be coming from my trip to French Gulch-a gold mining town just off Hwy 299 west of Redding. Please let me know if you can identify the product from Del Norte County.

4th & F Streets, Eureka, c. 1945

The “Monkey Wards” (what my dad called it when I was growing up) on the right is certainly not the flat-roofed monstrosity I remember from when I was a kid (was located where Target is now for those who are newer to the area).

Nice to see that the Eureka Theater hasn’t really changed. Folks have actually been working for a while now to restore the theater and the volunteer effort is coming along quite nicely. Learn more about the restoration effort and how you can help HERE.

Not all change is bad-The Old Daly’s Store

This just wasn’t pretty.

But this is.

So I was feeling all clever and original in creating this post until I picked up the latest local book by Arcadia Publishing–this one is a “Then & Now” (mostly) photo book of Eureka written by local photographer (and now author) Scott H. Brown.  Scott shows almost exactly what I posted above on page 54-but since his book is already published. he clearly came up with it first–and his photos include interesting info like the Daly brothers came from Ireland to Eureka in 1892, established the Daly’s Dept. Store and that when the chain of five Daly’s stores closed in 1995, it was Northern California’s oldest independently owned department store chain.

Scott’s book is cool. Seriously. It is full of historic images (anywhere from 50 to 150 years old) contrasted with present-day photos. He also has great info in the captions. Scott works at Old Town Coffee and Chocolates and you can find him, signed copies of his book,  and a great mocha or cup of tea there.

Fortuna Bicycle Works and a Boat Builder

I can’t decide if it is scary or kind of cool that I am writing about local history that I remember.

In 1976 my parents decided to get out of the smog and traffic of Los Angeles and moved to Humboldt County. They took over Fortuna Bicycle Works, which was in the little mini-mall on the corner of Main Street and Stillman Way in Fortuna. The building is still there (and apparently hasn’t been painted in a very long time) but this sign on the side of this building is all that’s left of the business (I can’t remember if the boat builder was there when we had the bike shop but I think he might have been).   There was also a scratch bakery in the same mall but I can’t remember the name.

Building Local Businesses

I have been trying to think of how to give an upcoming North Coast SBDC Procurement Fair a historical perspective and though I probably could-exploring the evolution of small business in Humboldt County, etc., I think I’ll just go ahead and say that the North Coast Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and North Coast Lead Center are clients and I am helping to promote a Procurement Fair happening in March that offers local businesses an opportunity to connect with government and institutional buyers and open new doors to sales opportunities.

Oh, for historical context, see this blog entry about the Stump House.  I don’t know that they could have survived with help with the North Coast SBDC,  but they might have…

Learn more about the Procurement Fair by calling North Coast SBDC Director Michael Kraft at (707)445-1163 or emailing him at kraft@northcoastsbdc.org.

You can also just register for the workshop (which will be great) by clicking HERE. There is no charge to attend.

Trinidad Town Hall-Before the Tennis Courts

Granted, it it now too late to help get the word out about the concert I attended in this building yesterday but it was a packed house anyway (Good job to Julie Fulkerson and all the other organizers).  In Love with the Muse Piano Voce was a benefit for the new Trinidad library and was held in the (old) Trinidad Town Hall.  I noticed the wonderfully wavy windows as I listened to the music.

According the photo source (HSU Special Collections), the hall was probably built about 1915. “Trinidad in early days had one telephone at McConnaha’s store on the Bay at Trinity and Edwards corner,” the HSU site also tells us.

Ruins right here in Humboldt

Years ago I went to Chichen Itza. Walking along a jungle trail I glanced at a small hill and took more than a moment to realize I was looking at a very old pyramid, almost completely hidden by lush vegetation. I’ve since seen photos of similar places, ancient ruins slowly disappearing as nature reclaims her space after man has let it go.

Our own tropical rain forest does the same.  Once upon a time this was our highway…

 

Seeking info re: Margaret Cobb (b. 1871) from SoHum

Hi everyone,

I was contacted by someone seeking information on Margaret Cobb, author (authoress ?) of Blaxine , which Cobb published in 1910 (quite a story and I urge you to click the link if you haven’t read my post). 

Anyone out there with stories, documents or photos?  I am confident that anything you have and are willing to share  would be very much appreciated…

If you can help, please email lynette.mullen@gmail.com

Thanks !

~L

Make Your ART Your Business

I am currently helping at the North Coast Small Business Development Center part-time (in addition to the D.A.’s Office) and am organizing “Flights” , which are 7-8 month programs targeting specific types of small businesses.

This has nothing to do with history, but thought I’d take advantage of my blog’s listing on the North Coast Journal’s Blog Watch to help get the word out. You can also email me at the SBDC at mullen@northcoastsbdc.org for more info or to get an application.

North Coast SBDC Art Flight Info

Local homeless camps

Today I took a “tour” of some of our local homeless camps, where I saw ragged tents that served as homes tucked into the brush, tarps stretched over the worn canvas as extra protection from any rain.  I saw nylon cords strung through the trees where faded shirts washed who-knows-where hung to dry on this incredibly sun-shiny day.  I also overheard a woman say she was cleaning up her camp, but was keeping the one ugly tarp hung up in the corner of the clearing because it provided privacy when she “piddled”.

I heard people with beautifully sweet smiles and no teeth explain what they were doing to try to get indoors. To pull their lives together.

I met a woman named Iris with a beautiful dog (that scared the shit out of me at first but turned out to be a love) who explained that she could get shelter IF she gave up her dog. The dog she loved that kept her safe.  Then she described where her camp lie deep in the marsh.

After this I drove back to Arcata and watched a Crabs baseball game.