Old Town Eureka

Old Town Eureka in Eureka, California, is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. This Historic district is a 350acre area containing 154 buildings mostly from the Victorian era. The core of the district runs the length of First, Second, and Third Streets, between "C" and "M" Streets and includes many types of architecture from the 1850s to the present. Though not officially within the district, the Carson Mansion, the undisputed Victorian jewel of the city and region, commands the highest elevation at the eastern edge of the district. Art venues, coffee shops, bed and breakfasts and inns, antique stores and shops, restaurants, museums and galleries, and public areas are among the highlights of this gem of the West Coast. Of particular note is the remarkable authenticity of the district simply because it did not suffer the ravages of extensive fires or redevelopment like many other historic commercial centers.HistoryThe city began as an 1850 settlement on the edge of Humboldt Bay where the district is today. Developers and settlers planned for Eureka to aid in the provision of miners working inland to the east. By 1865 the central core of what would become Eureka's "Old Town" was considered "a lively place for a small town, full of business and with plenty of money... the roads beyond Second street (the equivalent of "Main" Street) were covered with stumps from the (recently logged) Redwood forest and not yet open.''