Humboldt County, California Totally Explained

Everything about Humboldt County California totally explained

Humboldt County is located on the far North Coast of California. In the 2000 census, the county had a population of 126,518. The majority resident live in or near Eureka, the county seat, and the smaller college town of Arcata, home to Humboldt State University. Both cities are located adjacent to Humboldt Bay, one of the largest deep-water ports on the West Coast of the United States. Area cities and towns are known for hundreds of ornate examples of Victorian architecture.
Humboldt is a densely forested, rural county situated in Northern California's rugged Coast (Mountain) Ranges. With nearly of combined public and private forest in production, Humboldt County accounts for twenty percent of the total forest production for all of California. The county contains over forty per cent of all remaining old growth Coast Redwood forests, the vast majority of which is protected or strictly conserved within dozens of national, state, and local forests and parks, totaling approximately 680,000 acres (over 1,000 square miles).

History

The original inhabitants of the area now known as Humboldt County include the Wiyot, Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, Chilula, Whilkut, and the southern Athabascans, including the Mattole and Nongatl. Humboldt County was formed in 1853 from parts of Trinity County. The first recorded entry by people of European origin was a landing by the Spanish in 1775. The bay wasn't visited again by people of European origin until 1849 when Josiah Gregg's party visited.

Climate

The coastal areas of the county experience wet, cool winters and dry, mild foggy summers. Winter highs usually range from the low 40s to the upper 50s, and winter lows on the coast usually range from the 40s into the 30s. The immediate coastal zone experiences a number of frosty nights in winter and early spring, though snowfall and hard freezes are rare. Winter rainstorms are frequent, with coastal areas averaging from 30 to a year based on elevation. Summers on the coast are cool to mild with frequent fog. Yet just 10 or inland one can find abundant sunshine and warmth. Thus coastal residents often head eastward in the summer to escape the gloomy cold summer fog. Summer highs range from the mid-50s to upper 60s, with lows in the upper 40s to mid-50s. Record highs at Woodley Island for most summer days are in the low to mid-70s.
Inland areas of the county also experience wet, cool winters. Snowfall is common at elevations over throughout the winter months. The main climatic difference between inland areas and the coast takes place in the summer months. Inland parts of Humboldt County experience average highs from the 80s to 90s depending on the elevation and distance from the ocean. 100 degree days are also common in eastern parts of the county including Orleans, Hoopa, and Willow Creek during the summer.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,052 square miles (10,495 km²), of which, 3,572 square miles (9,253 km²) of it's land and 480 square miles (1,243 km²) of it (11.84%) is water.
Located in Humboldt County is Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point in California, with a longitude of 124 degrees, 24 minutes and 30 seconds.

Bay

Humboldt Bay, California's second largest bay, is located on the coast at the midsection of the county. It is the site of the only significant concentration of population on the entire far North Coast.

Rivers

Humboldt County's major rivers include (in order of flow-cubic meters per second-from largest to smallest):

The list of other smaller rivers and at least one large creek include the following: Van Duzen, Mattole, Salmon, Elk, Bear, and Little rivers, and Redwood Creek.

Parks

National Park Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) State Parks

Azalea State Reserve

Benbow Lake State Recreation Area

Fort Humboldt State Historic Park

Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park

Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area

Humboldt Lagoons State Park

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

John B. Dewitt Redwoods State Reserve

Little River State Beach

Patrick's Point State Park

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Richardson Grove State Park

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park

Trinidad State Beach

Cities & Towns & Other places

Agriculture

Humboldt County is known for its impressive redwood trees, and many acres of private redwood timberland make Humboldt the top timber producer in California. The lush river bottoms adjacent to the ocean are renowned for producing rich, high-quality dairy products. Somewhat more inland the warmer valleys have historically produced abundant apples and other fruit. More recently vinyards have been planted in the Trinity, Klamath, and upper Eel river valleys.

Marijuana

Humboldt County is also widely known for its high potency strains of marijuana, which are grown outdoors and increasingly indoors. Large scale "grows" are prosecuted, while others are able to grow under county guidelines for medicinal use under the auspices of California Proposition 215.

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

U.S. Route 101

State Route 36

State Route 96

State Route 299

Public transportation

Humboldt Transit Authority operates two fixed route transit bus systems:

Redwood Transit System provides intercity service to and within communities between Trinidad and Scotia, with occasional service to Manila and Loleta. HTA also offers service between McKinleyville or Arcata and Willow Creek and an express bus between Arcata and College of the Redwoods when classes are in session.
Eureka Transit Service, operated in the City of Eureka, provides local service on four scheduled routes (one hour headway) in Eureka and its adjacent unincorporated communities. Connections can be made to the Redwood Transit System at several places in Eureka.

Arcata and Mad River Transit System, operated by the City of Arcata with funding from Humboldt State University. A&MRTS provides fixed route local bus service on two scheduled routes (one hour headway) in Arcata and an additional route between the Valley West Neighborhood and the university when classes are in session.

The city of Blue Lake and the Blue Lake Rancheria operates the Blue Lake Rancheria Transit Authority. Blue Lake Rancheria Transit provides fixed route intercity transit bus service (one hour headway) between Arcata and the Blue Lake Rancheria Indian Reservation and casino and local service within the city of Blue Lake.

Del Norte county's Redwood Coast Transit operates fixed route intercity transit bus service between Arcata and Crescent City or Smith River.

Amtrak Thruway bus has stops in many towns in the region, including Eureka, Arcata, and Fortuna. These stops are not managed by Amtrak and therefore have no services beyond serving passengers. Full service is only provided in the Martinez, California Train station.

Airports

Arcata-Eureka Airport is located in McKinleyville (north of Arcata). Commercial flights are available. Other (general aviation) airports are located at Dinsmore, Garberville, Kneeland, Murray Field (Eureka) and Rohnerville (Fortuna).

Seaport

Port of Humboldt Bay

Government

City of Trinidad

Politics

Presidential election results>

Year	DEM	GOP	Others
2004	57.7% 37,988	39.0% 25,714	3.3% 2,184
2000	44.4% 24,851	41.5% 23,219	14.1% 7,902
1996	44.2% 24,628	35.5% 19,803	20.3% 11,326
1992	48.1% 28,854	30.5% 18,299	21.4% 12,868
1988	57.1% 29,781	41.2% 21,460	1.7% 905
1984	46.8% 25,217	51.6% 27,832	1.6% 842
1980	35.2% 17,113	49.4% 24,047	15.5% 7,532
1976	54.2% 23,500	41.6% 18,034	4.2% 1,838
1972	46.2% 21,132	48.8% 22,345	5.0% 2,286
1968	45.5% 16,476	46.2% 16,719	8.3% 3,019
1964	66.3% 25,515	33.5% 12,909	0.2% 75
1960	52.7% 20,391	46.7% 18,074	0.6% 226

Humboldt is a strongly Democratic county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Humboldt is part of California's 1st congressional district, which is held by Democrat Mike Thompson. In the state legislature, Humboldt is part of the 1st Assembly district, which is held by Democrat Patty Berg, and the 2nd Senate district, which is held by Democrat Pat Wiggins.

Area organizations

Humboldt County Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce

Arcata Chamber of Commerce

Fortuna Chamber of Commerce

Ferndale Chamber of Commerce

Trinidad Chamber of Commerce

Garberville & Redway (Southern Humboldt) Chamber of Commerce

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 126,518 people and 51,238 households in Humboldt County, and the population density was 35 people per square mile (14/km²). By 2003, the population was projected to increase to 127,915. There were 55,912 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.71% White, 0.88% Black or African American, 5.72% Native American, 1.65% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 2.45% from other races, and 4.39% from two or more races. 6.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 13.3% were of German, 10.7% Irish, 10.3% English, 7.4% American and 5.7% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.1% spoke English and 4.6% Spanish as their first language.
   There were 51,238 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95.
   In the county the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $31,226, and the median income for a family was $39,370. Males had a median income of $32,210 versus $23,942 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,203. About 12.9% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

Educational and cultural institutions

Humboldt State University

College of the Redwoods

Heartwood Institute

Dell'Arte School The County is served by many school districts, including charter and private schools. All school districts are listed in a separate article.

Media

The longest-running paper is the Times-Standard, owned now by Media News Group, which has been in daily publication since 1854. Briefly joining them in 2006 as a daily, the Eureka Reporter

owned by local resident Rob Arkley Jr., became a 5 day per week publication at the beginning of 2008. Regional weekly and bi-weekly publications include the North Coast Journal

, the McKinleyville Press

, the Independent, The Lumberjack out of Humboldt State University, Arcata Eye

the Humboldt Beacon

, and the BigfootValleyNews.html Bigfoot Valley News

- distributed from Weaverville, CA in the east to Mc Kinleyville CA then south to Fortuna CA. Also along HWY 96 from Willow Creek to Happy Camp, CA, primarily local coverage. Last but not least is the Hoopa People Newspaper

, distributed weekly in the Klamath Trinity region and available by subscription to tribal members and other interested people.
Online readers can browse over 150 Humboldt County blogs

, each with varying opinions, topics, and viewpoints from behind the Redwood Curtain.
   There are also a number of tabloid circulars both on-line and in print which have a narrower focus than traditional print media. Humboldt County also has numerous zines and on-line blogs.
   All of Humboldt County's television stations (KIEM, KVIQ, KAEF, KEET) are based in Eureka, although only KIEM continues to produce nightly news broadcasts originating locally.
   Commercial, community and public radio continues to thrive in Humboldt County, with some stations bucking the national trend to produce local content and program a smattering of local music. For-profit stations include (KFMI

, KRED

, KXGO

, KHUM

, KSLG

, KWPT

and KATA

). Non-profit stations include the Hoopa Tribe's KIDE

, Redway's KMUD

, Humboldt State University-based KHSU

and KRFH

and Jefferson Public Radio's KNHM and KNHT. On August 26, 2006 the Blue Ox Millworks and School of the Traditional Arts launched KKDS

, a low power FM station focused on youth and community issues. There have also been a number of pirate radio stations such as Free Arcata Radio and Humboldt Free Radio

, although none of these have broadcasted on a consistent basis or frequency for many years.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Humboldt County California'.

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