The Falk Archaeological District encompasses a historic town and lumber mill site in Northern California, United States. Included in the

Headwaters Forest Reserve The Headwaters Forest Reserve is a group of old growth coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') groves in the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion near Humboldt Bay of the U.S. state of California. Comprising about , it is managed by t ...

in 1999, the town was founded by Noah and Elijah Falk. The site was listed 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 ...

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 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 ...

in 1884 to house the families of immigrant lumberjacks from Sweden,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

.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 cookhouse is a small building where cooking takes place. Often found at remote work camps, they complemented the bunkhouse and were usually found on ranches that employed cowboys, or loggers in a logging camp. Prior to the 20th century, cookh ...

, a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and cities in ...

, a general store, 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 ...

and a

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

thrived until 1937 when the great depression closed the lumber mill and the town was soon abandoned. Among the last residents were Charlie Webb and his wife who acted as

property caretaker A property caretaker is a person, group, or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations.Dunn, Gary"Property Caretaking Rent Free"Escape Artist Magazin ...

s 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