A Look Back at Eureka, Circa 1890s

Information from the City of Eureka:

colorized photo of f street in eureka around 1890. Two story buildings line a dirt street with a horse and buggy are on the right side of the road facing the photographer

Circa 1890s [Photo colorized by Carl Young]

The town site of ‘Eureka’ was founded in the 1850’s as a supply post for the mining industry in the Trinity Mountains to the east. The City of Eureka is the oldest city in Humboldt County, and was incorporated on April 18, 1856. The City was established as a planned development by a land company that divided the land into lots, delineated streets and roads and managed the land for members and investors. Early settlers claimed large pieces of property, eventually selling off smaller portions to other buyers. Some families bought entire blocks, building on one portion and subdividing the rest into streets and lots.

The variety and distribution of historic structures in Eureka creates a cultural fabric that reflects the history of the community. The retention and rehabilitation of the significant number of Victorian era structures that provide a direct link to the City’s history, and the maintenance of the cultural continuity of the Victorian era, are significant components of the City’s existing land use patterns and character. This has allowed Eureka to be referred to as the “Victorian Seaport”. The community of Eureka is fortunate to possess a wide range of historic and cultural resources.  These resources include sites, buildings, structures, places, objects, districts, traditional cultural properties, and landscapes that were created by the people who have lived and worked in this area.

Eureka History.com Website

Note: Carl Young brings back old photos to life by colorizing them. He often posts his enlivened photos on Humboldt County, California in pictures, old and new. Recently he shared this one with us.

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24 Comments
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willow creeker
Member
1 year ago

Cool picture. I was trying to orient myself; if you are looking down f street from 2nd street as it says, wouldn’t it be looking east or west? Not south?

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  willow creeker

From Second Street, looking down F Street, South would be basically correct…

(Map North is oriented to top of screen…)

Tap screenshot for compass symbol it will be in the upper right…

Screenshot_20221129-093210.png
willow creeker
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

I am corrected. For some reason I always orient myself by imagining the ocean to the west. But that’s not always the case. I should have looked at a map before mouthing off!

Thatguyinarcata
Guest
Thatguyinarcata
1 year ago
Reply to  willow creeker

The oceans to the west, but the bay is to the north in old town

Old timer
Guest
Old timer
1 year ago

Lettered streets run south and north
numbered streets run east and west

Xebeche
Guest
Xebeche
1 year ago
Reply to  Old timer

Actually a few degrees east of south for letter streets

Last edited 1 year ago
grey fox
Member
1 year ago

Where is all the cars?

burblestein
Guest
burblestein
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

In 1880?

Frog
Guest
Frog
1 year ago
Reply to  burblestein

😆

local observer
Guest
local observer
1 year ago

this is looking south from 1st street.

guest
Guest
guest
1 year ago
Reply to  local observer

Looks to me that the photo was shot on F st. from Snug alley.

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
1 year ago

Great stuff.

wolfofwallmart
Member
wolfofwallmart
1 year ago

I did work on a house in Massachusetts that was build in the 1700s

TD
Guest
TD
1 year ago
Reply to  wolfofwallmart

My father had a friend from WW2 in England that had a house built in the 1600s, thatch roof and all. It was pretty cool. I was surprised to learn how expensive thatch roofs are.
Makes bit think a bit about the old joke of how Americans think a hundred ears is a long time, and Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way.
Love these old photos. On youtube you can find a “drive down Market St” where they mounted a camera on a trolley in SF just before the ’06 earthquake.

nanhum
Guest
nanhum
1 year ago

Jake Loewenthal’s store! cool!

Mike
Guest
Mike
1 year ago

Pretty amazing the amount of development and finished 2 and 3 story ornate buildings in just 45 years!

Farce
Guest
Farce
1 year ago

Where did all the poop go? Did they just dump it into the streets from chamber pots and then let pigs run loose to eat it all up? John Ford would not like that!!

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
1 year ago

Wonder what Eureka arts alive was like back then

John
Guest
John
1 year ago

At one time Eureka was larger than Los Angeles. This may have been the case when this picture was taken.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

Can’t believe no one has mentioned who this land belonged to before the town site was “founded”. Native peoples displaced, harrassed, murdered.

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

I was gonna do some satire about it, but bringing it up is so predictable, so I passed.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Not a subject for satire.

Maximus
Guest
Maximus
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Nothing new about that. English citizens are getting displaced by “immigrants”. The Britons were displaced, harrassed and murdered by Romans, Romans by Angles and Saxons, Angles and Saxons by Normans, etc.
Read a history book.
Also, in broad terms, all native Americans weren’t peaceful and communal. They killed their neighbors, enslaved them, stole land and treasure. It’s typical human behavior.