Korbel (formerly North Fork) 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located east-southeast of

Blue Lake Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally descr ...

, at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m). The ZIP Code is 95550.

History

In 1881, the

Korbel Korbel may refer to: Companies *Korbel Champagne Cellars Places * Korbel, Humboldt County, California * Korbel, Sonoma County, California People * Daniel Korbel, Canadian bridge player. * Jan O. Korbel (born 1975), German biologist * Josef Kor ...

brothers, Antone, Frank, and Joseph Korbel of

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

acquired the Arcata and Mad River Railroad. They extended the railroad up the North Fork Mad River, where they built the Humboldt Lumber Company

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, 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 ...

in 1883 with a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

for worker housing. The sawmill was the first in Humboldt County to use a

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

for drying lumber. The town was originally called North Fork, but was renamed Korbel in 1891 with the arrival of the post office. The Korbel family sold their Mad River properties to the Northern Redwood Lumber Company in 1902. Rail passenger service ended in 1931. The sawmill closed in 1933, but was reopened in 1942. In 1956

Simpson Investment Company The Simpson Investment Company is a privately held holding company based in Seattle, Washington in the US Pacific Northwest that specializes in manufacture of forest products. Founded as a logging company in 1890 by Sol Simpson, the company is n ...

of Washington purchased the site. Rail connection with the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a mainline railroad from the former ferry connections in Sausalito, California north to Eureka, with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a complex h ...

was abandoned in 1985. Sawmill operations have continued into the 21st century, but few residential or commercial structures remain. Simpson operations in Korbel were spun off to sister company Green Diamond Resources. The mill was sold to Trinity River Timber in 2016; Green Diamond continues to own timberland in the area. The mill is currently owned and operated by North Forks Lumber Company. Korbel Mill Sold
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The Old Arrow Tree

The Old Arrow Tree, California Historical Marker Number 164, is located 0.8 miles East of Korbel. It commemorates the site of an Indian treaty between the

Hupa The Hupa (Yurok: / 'Hupa people') are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is for Hupa-language speakers in general, and for residents of Hoopa Valley, also sp ...

and the

Karuk The Karuk people ()Andrew Garrett, Susan Gehr, Erik Hans Maier, Line Mikkelsen, Crystal Richardson, and Clare Sandy. (November 2, 2021) ''Karuk; To appear in The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America: A Comprehensive Guide (De G ...

. As people passed they left arrows or other offerings in the bark, sometimes shooting the arrows into the tree.

References

Unincorporated communities in Humboldt County, California Company towns in California Populated places established in 1883 Unincorporated communities in California {{HumboldtCountyCA-geo-stub