Garberville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

in Humboldt County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is located on the South Fork of the Eel River south-southeast of Eureka, at an elevation of . The population was 913 at the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

. It is approximately north of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California, and within a fifteen-minute drive to

Humboldt Redwoods State Park Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous old-growth forest of coast redwoods. It is located south of Eureka, California, near Weott in s ...

and a sixty-minute drive to Eureka, the county seat. Garberville is the primary town in the area known as the Mateel Region, consisting of parts of the

Mattole The Mattole, including the Bear River Indians, are a group of Native Americans in California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of a ...

and Eel River watersheds in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties.

History

Prior to recorded history, the area was populated by southern Sinkyone people. In 1853, a Spanish explorer, Antone Garcia, settled in the area near Town Gulch, which runs through modern-day Garberville. The first post office in Garberville opened in 1874. Jacob C. Garber, the town

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, later named the town after himself in 1879.

Geography

Garberville is located at . The town is stretched out in a small forested valley bisected by

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

, at an elevation of . The nearby King's Peak rises to .

Climate

The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is '' Csb'' (Mediterranean climate), characterized by cold, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

Demographics

The

reported that Garberville had a population of 913. The population density was . The racial makeup of Garberville was 815 (89.3%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 14 (1.5%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 29 (3.2%) Native American, 17 (1.9%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 7 (0.8%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 31 (3.4%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 54 persons (5.9%). The Census reported that 785 people (86.0% of the population) lived in households, 128 (14.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 390 households, out of which 86 (22.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 102 (26.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 47 (12.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 33 (8.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 50 (12.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 5 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 172 households (44.1%) were made up of individuals, and 49 (12.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.01. There were 182 families (46.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.69. The population was spread out, with 160 people (17.5%) under the age of 18, 85 people (9.3%) aged 18 to 24, 258 people (28.3%) aged 25 to 44, 285 people (31.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 125 people (13.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.2 males. There were 434 housing units at an average density of , of which 390 were occupied, of which 175 (44.9%) were owner-occupied, and 215 (55.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.3%. 388 people (42.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 397 people (43.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Economy

Marijuana cultivation has replaced timber as the economic driver of Garberville and neighboring Redway. There is a Cannabis College in Garberville, and the town has been called "the

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

heartland of the U.S." by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

Reggae on the River Reggae on the River was an annual reggae festival active from 1983 until 2019 in Humboldt County, California. It was frequently held on the last weekend in July or on the first weekend in August. History Reggae on the River began in 1984 as a ...

, an annual music festival, is held near Garberville. Nearby, the 1925 Tudor Revival Benbow Inn is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Government

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

, Garberville is in , and . Federally, Garberville is in .

Incorporation attempts

A proposal to incorporate Garberville as a city was dropped after county supervisors declined to form a Municipal Advisory Committee due to concerns over the associated costs. A group of local residents once attempted to qualify a "Sequoia County" initiative to secede from both Humboldt and Mendocino County with Garberville as the new county seat, although the campaign ended without gathering enough signatures. A local chapter of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

was formed in 2006.

Education

The Southern Humboldt Unified School District was created from 19 separate school districts in 1948 and currently serves about 800 students in an area of . The district has five elementary, one middle school, one high school and one learning center. * Redway School * Whitethorn School * Agnes Johnson School * Casterlin School * Ettersburg School * Miranda Junior High School * South Fork High School * Osprey Learning Center

Media

Garberville is home to both weekly newspapers in the Mateel Region, the locally owned ''Independent'' and ''Redwood Times'', run by Media News Group as a sister publication of the daily '' Times-Standard'' from Eureka. Redwood Community Radio, KMUD, broadcasts from Garberville at 91.1 FM.

Infrastructure

Transportation

bypasses the town, with exits 639 and 642 at Garberville and Redway, respectively.

Humboldt Transit Authority Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) operates several transit services in Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is ...

serves from Garberville as far north as

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. Garberville is served by

Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, trans ...

for out of region public transportation. Garberville Airport is a public airport located southwest of town.

Utilities

Garberville's ZIP Code is 95542. The community is inside

area code 707 Area code 707 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. It was created by a split of area code 415 on March 1, 1959. It serves part of the northern San Francis ...

. The Garberville Fire Protection District, has three engines and a utility truck, self-contained breathing apparatuses and radios.Garberville Fire Protection District Municipal Service Review
, September 2008, Humboldt Local Agency Formation Commission The Garberville Water Company supplies drinking water to residents and maintains 27 fire hydrants on its water lines. The Garberville Sanitary District is not the same as the water company, but provides sewers in the core of the fire district. Some releases of water have contained one or more toxins.

Health care

The Jerold Phelps Community Hospital is administered by the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District.

Notable residents

*Major League Baseball player Marshall Brant was born in Garberville. Marshall Lee Brant
BaseballReference.com, USA Today, 2013

References

External links

* https://www.elevatethemagic.com
Garberville-Redway Area Chamber of Commerce

history and photographs *