The Falk Archaeological District encompasses a historic town and lumber mill site in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, United States. Included in the Headwaters Forest Reserve in 1999, the town was founded by Noah and Elijah Falk. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

History

Noah Falk came to California in 1854 and formed the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company with two partners. The town was built around the sawmill in 1884 to house the families of immigrant

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

s from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, Norway, Ireland and Nova Scotia.Workers toiled deep in the now-protected redwood stands, felling trees, shipping them on Falk’s very own railroad to the mill, and finally sending the lumber to worldwide markets via a port at present day Eureka. The town of 400 with a cookhouse, a dance hall, a general store, a post office and a school thrived until 1937 when the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

closed the lumber mill and the town was soon abandoned. Among the last residents were Charlie Webb and his wife who acted as property caretakers for the lumber company. After Charlie died, the lumber company burned and demolished the buildings in 1979 due to liability concerns and a plaque stands in its place.

Description

Remnants of the townsite are visible and marked with interpretive signs along the first half-mile of the Elk River Trail. The restored locomotive barn serves as an education center.

References

External links

Falk Historic Logging Ghost Town.
Eureka-Humboldt Visitors Bureau.
Humboldt Heritage Trails.
Eureka-Humboldt Visitors Bureau. Ghost towns in California Former settlements in Humboldt County, California National Register of Historic Places in Humboldt County, California {{California-ghost-town-stub