Metropolitan is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Humboldt County,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
It is located on McDairmid Prairie, on the north side of the
Eel River floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
three miles downstream of
Scotia
Scotia is a Latin placename derived from ''Scoti'', a Latin name for the Gaels, first attested in the late 3rd century.Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 The Romans referred to Ireland as "Scotia" around ...
,
at an elevation of 72 feet (22 m).
History
The location was formerly a
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
of 25 homes with a hotel and store for
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
workers of the Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company organized in 1904 by owners in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. Company timberlands on Slater Creek were reached by a railroad trestle across the Eel River. The timber was logged out in the 1920s, and the sawmill burned in 1932. Most of the employee housing was moved to
Rio Dell
Rio Dell (Spanish: ''Río Dell'', meaning "Dell River") is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. It is located on the west bank of the Eel River north of Scotia at an elevation of 161 feet (49 m). The population was 3,363 at t ...
by 1937.
The railway trestle and 62-room hotel were destroyed by the Eel River flood of 23 December 1964.
Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company Locomotives
References
5. ShayLocomotives.com research site (1998-2017)
Defunct California railroads
Logging railroads in the United States
Company towns in California
Populated places established in 1904
Unincorporated communities in Humboldt County, California
Unincorporated communities in California
{{HumboldtCountyCA-geo-stub