Navarro (formerly known as Wendling) 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 ...

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 west of Ukiah, at an elevation of . It may be reached via the east–west

California State Route 128 State Route 128 (SR 128) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting the Mendocino coast to the Sacramento Valley, through the state's Wine Country. It runs from State Route 1 near Albion to Interstate 505 in Winters. Route ...

, which connects it to the Pacific coast to the west and to the

Anderson Valley Anderson Valley is a sparsely populated region in western Mendocino County in Northern California. Located approximately north of San Francisco, the name "Anderson Valley" applies broadly to several rural, unincorporated communities in or near ...

to the southeast.

History

A former

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

named ''Navarro'', with approximately 1,000 people, was founded in the 1860s and located approximately to the west of the present town, at the mouth of the

Navarro River , name_native_lang = , name_other = , name_etymology = , image = Navarro_River.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Navarro River near its mouth. , map = , map_size ...

in what is now

Navarro River Redwoods State Park Navarro River Redwoods State Park is a state park in Mendocino County, California, consisting of of second-growth redwood forest in a narrow stretch long on both banks of the Navarro River, from the town of Navarro to the river's confluence ...

.. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

opened there in 1867. In 1902, the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

at the mouth of the river burned down, and the post office closed. A new mill was built that year by G. C. Wendling on the north

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

of the Navarro River, at the present location of Navarro, and in 1905 the town of Wendling was founded around the mill. A post office was opened there in 1914. However, in 1916, the Wendling mill was bought by the

Navarro Lumber Company Navarro may refer to: Places * Navarro (Avilés), a parish in Avilés, Asturias, Spain * Navarro, Buenos Aires, Argentina ** Navarro Partido, the ''partido'' of Navarro, in Argentina * Navarro, California, USA * Navarro, Gurabo, Puerto Rico, USA; ...

, at which point Wendling became known as Navarro Mill, or, more simply, Navarro. To reduce confusion, the dwindling seaside town of Navarro became known as Old Navarro, Navarro Ridge, or Navarro-by-the-sea.. The

Fort Bragg and Southeastern Railroad The Fort Bragg and Southeastern Railroad was formed by Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a consolidation of logging railways extending inland from Albion, California on the coast of Mendocino County. The railroad and its predecessors ope ...

connected Wendling (Navarro) with

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

facilities in Albion, California, from 1905 to 1930.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Mendocino County, California {{MendocinoCountyCA-geo-stub