Fairhaven (formerly Rolph) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

(CDP) adjacent to

Humboldt Bay Humboldt Bay (Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Wigi'') is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast (California), North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, ...

in Humboldt County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It is located west-southwest of downtown

Eureka Eureka often refers to: * Eureka (word), a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes * Eureka effect, the sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem Eureka or Ureka may also refer to: History * Eureka Rebellion, an 1854 g ...

, at an elevation of above sea level. In 1867,

Hans Ditlev Bendixsen Hans Ditlev Bendixsen (October 14, 1842 – February 12, 1902) was a Danish-American shipbuilder who was instrumental in the development of the merchant marine industry on the West Coast of the United States. His lumber schooners were built in o ...

opened a ship building yard in Fairhaven. Bendixsen built many vessels for the lumber trade. Bendixsen constructed 92 sailing vessels between 1869 and 1901, including 35 three-masters. These included the '' C.A. Thayer'' which is now preserved at the

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. Formerly referred to ...

. The Rolph post office operated from 1918 to 1921. That name was for Governor

James Rolph James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Jr. (August 23, 1869 – June 2, 1934) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931, until his death on June 2, 19 ...

of California. The name "Fairhaven" was taken from Fair Haven, a neighborhood in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

Simpson Simpson may refer to: * Simpson (name), a British surname Organizations Schools *Simpson College, in Indianola, Iowa *Simpson University, in Redding, California Businesses *Simpson (appliance manufacturer), former manufacturer and brand of w ...

historically operated plywood and pulp operations in Fairhaven. Green Diamond, spun off from Simpson, continues to operate a wood chip export facility in Fairhaven.http://humboldtbayproject.net/humboldt-bay-project-natural-resources.html

Demographics

References

Census-designated places in Humboldt County, California Census-designated places in California Populated coastal places in California {{HumboldtCountyCA-geo-stub