City of Eureka

The bronze credits Eureka with rising to become the region's social, political and economic center, and leaves out the week it used that standing. On February 6, 1885, councilman David Kendall was killed by a stray bullet in a shooting on the Chinatown block, a short walk up E Street. That night a crowd raised a gallows; city leaders gave every Chinese resident twenty-four hours, and two days later hundreds were put aboard steamers for San Francisco. Their 1886 suit, Wing Hing v. City of Eureka, failed. The Eureka Chinatown Project's marker on that block tells it.

What the plaque says

Eureka "I Have Found It" Eureka was founded as a town in 1850 and incorporated as a city in 1874. Located on the remote northwestern coast of California, Eureka was the region's major port of entry by water in the 19th century before the construction of good access by land, and rose to historical prominence as the major social, political and economic center of the region. "Eureka" is a Greek expression and a popular mining term meaning "I have found it." California Registered Historical Landmark No. 477 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, Eureka No. 101. September 15, 1979

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carson Mansion — 0.5 mi
  The house Eureka's biggest lumberman began in 1884 on the bluff above his own mill, and the story told about why.
• Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary — 5.5 mi
  A wildlife sanctuary that is also the town's sewage works, because Arcata turned down the state's plan.
• Sue-meg State Park — 23 mi
  A Yurok place that carried a settler's name for ninety years and took its own back in 2021.

More markers nearby

• Fort Humboldt — 2.1 mi
• Humboldt Harbor Historical District — 4.4 mi
• Jacoby Building — 6.1 mi
• Camp Curtis — 7.5 mi