Carson Block – Then and Stucco and Now

(Repost)

Notes from 2020:   This is another of my favorite posts highlighting a true architectural treasure in Old Town, Eureka (with some added 2020 notes)…. 

Here is a story the Lost Coast Outpost did about the restoration work.

And here is a little blurb from the Arcata Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) that gives a little history on the building and the financing that made the restoration possible

And this story by Kathy Dillon for the Eureka Heritage Society’s Architectural Legacy newsletter gives the most detailed information about the building’s history and restoration. This also includes some great photos of the building’s original Ingomar theater.

Please click on the photos below to enlarge and see details.

1892.12.23: Daily Humboldt Times (Humboldt County Library)

1904- Souvenir Photo (Humboldt County Library)

Humboldt County Historical Society

Humboldt County Historical Society

NCIDC Collection

NCIDC Collection

North Coast Journal, January 2016

The building is quiet now, but that will change….

Eureka 1893-94 Business Directory

I saved this one for Friday- so you can explore it over the weekend….

Google has digitized this fun.

Eureka Business Directory 1893-4: A Complete Register of the Citizens of the City of Eureka, Humboldt County, California

You can look up your great-grandparents  or see that you could get “Humboldt Pure Lard” in 100 lb. Kegs.

Please note that you can customize your display, or how you view the book online, by clicking display options on the upper right hand corner of your screen.

Enjoy…

 

 

 

 

Back to 2nd Street, Eureka…

I was distracted the other day by my discovery of an Armory Hall in Old Town Eureka on 2nd Street between C and D, but now back to the basics…

I’ve always loved that Fairwind sign on the side of the building, but apparently it isn’t that old….

 

HSU Special Collection 

 

It looks like the Armory was gone by 1920- but there were a LOT of saloons so still plenty of places for drinkin’. Whew… 

I have posted about this area before (and noted that the two hour parking limit goes way back)- but without benefit of the map or satellite below…

 

 

Sanborn Map, 1920

It doesn’t look like  many of the original buildings are left, but there are a few…

Thanks Google

 

Eureka’s E Street, 1920/1929 (and today)

Thanks, Google

Looking down E Street, Eureka (Source: Antich/County of Humboldt)

 

I think I love the contrast in vehicles here as much as I do the buildings…

And there’s another streetcar track… 

Below are Sanborn maps from 1920- so a little earlier than the older photo, but not much….

You can see the church steeple on the left – and it looks like the house (structure) was still there in 1929, though Kelly moved in a sandwiche [sic] and chili shop- and the house may have been selling cigars. Interesting that there was an auto wrecking yard by 1920 (map)

As always (hopefully) please just click to enlarge the media…

 

1850 Description of Humboldt

Eureka as painted by a soldier in 1854- Please click on the painting to enlarge.

 

Understanding Our Region Through Historic Landscape Narratives

October, 2013

By S. Van Kirk and S. Guerra

When the first Euro-American ships arrived off Humboldt Bay in the spring of 1850, those onboard witnessed a spectacle that we can only dream about.

“I must now tell you that the land is so beautiful and the soil so rich that I was almost fascinated with the scene, and if I could have you and Ginney, Rachel and our family, with some of our valued friends, I could almost give up Erie. In addition to the good qualities of the land, the waters produce clams in abundance as well as fish; and geese, ducks, snipe, plover, etc. are about as numerous as wild pigeons at Erie in the spring. The wood is not less productive than the water and droves of elk and deer, with a goodly number of bears are always to be found….” (Lewis, 1966)

Captain Douglas Ottinger, on board the Laura Virginia, in Humboldt Bay, April 1850, to his “Good Wife,”

 

Note: Susie Van Kirk was an amazing and generous historian and a wonderful human being. She passed away in 2016 and I miss her still….

Arcata Boardwalk and Other Things, c. 1930

Please click on the photo to enjoy the details

Source: HSU Special Collection: Palmquist/Yale [2012.02.0179]

New York Public Library-Historic Photos

New York Public Library-Civil War Collection

Check out the New York Public Library Collection on Flickr

These aren’t us, but they are amazing. This site holds a wonderful and varied collection of historic photos. Some of the portraits featuring immigrants in their native dress (down the page in the Ellis Island Collection) are especially interesting.