Humboldt Harbor Historical District

The first recorded entry the bronze credits to Jonathan Winship was an otter hunt. In June 1806 he was sailing the O'Cain for the Russian-American Company, carrying Alaska Native hunters, recorded as Aleut, and their skin boats; the Wiyot, whose bay this was and who called it Wigi, drove them off. The bay went onto Russian charts as the Bay of Resanof, and no outsider came back for forty-three years. Josiah Gregg's party, short of food, came overland from the Trinity mines in December 1849, and the Laura Virginia crossed the bar the next spring.

What the plaque says

Humboldt Harbor Historical District Captain Jonathan Winship made the first recorded entry into Humboldt Bay by sea in June, 1806. Encountered in 1849 by Josiah Gregg's party, new word of its existence reached San Francisco. By 1850 the Laura Virginia Association had founded Humboldt City, Union (Arcata), Bucksport, and Eureka. In subsequent years the bay became a major north coast lumber port and shipbuilding center. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 882 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Humboldt County Historical Society. April 10, 1976

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Fort Humboldt — 2.3 mi
• City of Eureka — 4.4 mi
• Jacoby Building — 10 mi
• Ferndale — 12 mi