City of Eureka

City of Eureka is a California Historical Landmark in Humboldt County.

Humboldt County · Eureka · location approximate

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In 1806 Captain Jonathan Winship of the ship O'Cain dropped anchor opposite where Eureka now stands. Captain Douglass Ottinger of the Laura Virginia discovered the entrance to the bay in 1850, and on April 9 a small party landed and decided to locate a city. This settlement was called "Humboldt City." The same year the City of Eureka was founded on Humboldt Bay about three miles from the entrance of the bay. In 1856 Eureka was made the county seat.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

More markers nearby

Fort Humboldt2 mi
Jacoby Building6 mi
Camp Curtis7 mi
Arcata and Mad River Rail Road Company11 mi

On the National Register nearby

U.S. Post Office and Courthouse150 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.