Crescent City, California

Crescent City (Tolowa: Taa-’at-dvn; Yurok: Kohpey; Wiyot: Daluwagh) is the only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California, United States, of which it is also the county seat. The city is on the North Coast of California and had a total population of 6,673 in the 2020 census, down from 7,643 in the 2010 census.

The city is the site of the Redwood National Park headquarters, as well as the historic Battery Point Light. Due to the richness of the local Pacific Ocean waters and the related catch, and ease of access, Crescent City Harbor serves as home port for numerous commercial fishing vessels. The population includes inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison, also within the city limits, and the former census-designated place Crescent City North annexed to the city.

Crescent City's offshore geography makes it unusually susceptible to tsunamis. In 1964, much of the city was destroyed by four tsunami waves generated by the Great Alaskan earthquake off Anchorage, Alaska. In March 2011, the city's harbor suffered extensive damage and destruction from tsunamis generated by the earthquake off Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Several dozen vessels and many of the docks they were moored to were destroyed as wave cycles related to the tsunamis exceeded .

History

Crescent City was founded on the site of Tolowa Indian Settlements at Battery Point, Pebble Beach, south of Point St. George, and north of Point St. George. In Tolowa: Taa-’at-dvn. In the Yurok it is Kohpey, and in Wiyot: Daluwagh).

In 1855, the U.S. Congress authorized the building of a lighthouse at "the battery point" (a high tide island on the coast of Crescent City) which is still functioning as a historical landmark.

Europeans began moving to the area in the 1850s. Crescent City was incorporated as a city in 1854.

The population includes inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison, also within the city limits although discontiguous and some ten miles away, and most of the former census-designated place Crescent City North annexed to the city prior to the 2010 U.S. census.

A 1906 ship named Crescent City was the former Jim Butler, a steam schooner built by Lindstrom Shipbuilding Company in Aberdeen, Washington, that wrecked in the Channel Islands, off Santa Cruz Island, in 1927.

Shipwrecks

Two notable shipwrecks happened off the coast, in 1865 and then at the start of World War II in December 1941, when a Japanese submarine hit a US oil tanker.

The Brother Jonathan, a paddle steamer, crashed on an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on July 30, 1865.

The SS Emidio, a tanker of the General Petroleum Corporation (later Mobil Oil), was the first casualty of the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine force action on California's Pacific Coast on December 20, 1941. The damaged tanker broke up on the rocks off Crescent City. The remaining pieces of the ship are now California Historical Landmark #497.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which (81.3%) is land and (18.7%) is water. Fishing and crabbing, tourism, and timber are the major sources of income in Del Norte County. Elk Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean at Crescent City. Its nearest Californian place of any size to its interior is Happy Camp separated by roughly by air, but, due to the unsuitable terrain, it is much farther by road. The nearest city is fellow coastal city Brookings, Oregon, around to its north. The Humboldt Bay area encompassing Eureka and Arcata is more than to its south. Crescent City is as far north in latitude as Chicago, Middle Island in Ontario, Canada, as well as New England on the Atlantic side. It is as much as nine degrees latitude north of San Diego at the southern tip of the state. Crescent City is closer to Vancouver, Canada () than to Los Angeles ().

thumb|Brother Jonathan Cemetery in Crescent City

thumb|Crescent City Harbor from Battery Point Lighthouse

Climate

Crescent City has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) while under the Trewartha system, it is labeled an oceanic climate (Dobk). The wettest months are from October to March; the wettest month is December with and the driest month is July with . The average high and low temperatures in December are and . The average high and low temperatures in August are and . On average, four mornings each winter fall below .

The highest temperature recorded in Crescent City was on September 20, 1989, and September 21, 1939. The lowest temperature on record was on January 20, 1937, and December 21, 1990. The maximum monthly precipitation was in November 1973. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1937 to June 1938 when fell and the driest from July 2013 to June 2014 with . The maximum 24-hour precipitation was on January 9, 1995. The highest snowfall recorded for any period in 24 hours was on January 26, 1972. The 30-year average annual precipitation in Crescent City has decreased from in the 1980–2010 period to about over the 1990–2020 period.

Tsunamis

thumb|[[Battery Point Light, from jetty]]

thumb|Crescent City's jetty

The bathymetry of the sea floor surrounding Crescent City has the effect of focusing tsunamis. According to researchers at Humboldt State University and the University of Southern California, the city experienced tsunami conditions 31 times between the years 1933 and 2008. Although many of these incidents were barely perceptible, eleven events included wave measurements exceeding one meter, four events caused damage, and one event in particular is commonly cited as "the largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to strike the United States Pacific Coast." The area is vulnerable to tsunamis generated by large earthquakes in remote parts of the Pacific Ocean, as well as locally by earthquakes along the Cascadia subduction zone and the Mendocino triple junction.

On March 27, 1964, the Great Alaskan earthquake in the Prince William Sound area, set in motion local landslide tsunamis, as well as a trans-Pacific wave. The tsunami wave travel time to Crescent City was 4.1 hours after the earthquake, but it only produced localized flooding. The second and third waves to hit Crescent City were smaller, but the fourth wave struck with a height of approximately after having drawn the harbor out nearly dry.

The tsunami raced down the West Coast with more deaths and destruction, but no other location was hit as hard. Crescent City bore the brunt, due to its offshore geography, position relative to the earthquake's strike-line, underwater contours such as the Cobb Seamount, and the position of rivers near the city. Although houses, buildings, and infrastructure were later rebuilt, years passed before the city recovered from the devastation to lives, property, and its economy. Since the 1980s, a jetty that serves as a breakwater has been protected from normal storm waves by hundreds of Dolos armor units, 38-ton concrete shapes.

Crescent City has not suffered fatalities or significant on-shore damage from a tsunami since 1964. Nevertheless, several Pacific tsunamis have caused significant damage to Crescent City harbor or have led to the evacuation of some parts of the city, and a tsunami-caused fatality occurred in the southern part of Del Norte County in 2011, at the mouth of the Klamath River, near Requa.

On June 14, 2005, the 2005 Eureka earthquake measuring 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale hit offshore. An estimated 6,000 people were evacuated when a tsunami warning was issued, and a tsunami wave hit the area. On November 15, 2006, the tsunami resulting from the magnitude 8.3 Kuril Islands earthquake reached the Pacific coast of the US and Canada and hit the harbor at Crescent City, causing damage to three docks and several boats. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a county state of emergency. More serious damage resulted from the tsunami spawned by the March 11, 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan. Parts of the city were evacuated, thirty-five boats were destroyed, and the harbor suffered major damage. The reported peak surge was over by 9:50am. There were no casualties in Crescent City, though one person was killed when swept out to sea near the mouth of the Klamath River, about 15 miles south of the city, and another five were swept out to sea in southern Oregon, but were quickly rescued. On July 29, 2025, the tsunami resulting from the magnitude 8.8 Kamchatka Peninsula earthquake again resulted in significant damage to the harbor.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Crescent City had a population of 6,673 and a population density of . The median age was 35.2 years. 15.0% of residents were under the age of 18, 8.2% were aged 18 to 24, 44.8% were aged 25 to 44, 21.9% were aged 45 to 64, and 10.1% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 224.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 266.8 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 57.3% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 42.3% were institutionalized. In addition, 60.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 40.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,652 households, of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 27.9% were married-couple households, 9.9% were cohabiting couple households, 25.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present, and 36.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32. There were 910 families (55.1% of all households).

There were 1,843 housing units at an average density of , of which 10.4% were vacant and 89.6% were occupied. Of occupied units, 30.5% were owner-occupied and 69.5% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.2%, and the rental vacancy rate was 4.5%.

2010 census

The 2010 United States census reported that Crescent City had a population of 7,643. The population density was 3,164.9/sqmi (1,222.0/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of Crescent City was 5,052 (66.1%) White, 910 (11.9%) African American, 370 (4.8%) Native American, 333 (4.4%) Asian, 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 696 (9.1%) from other races, and 275 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,342 persons (30.6%).

The Census reported that 4,063 people (53.2% of the population) lived in households, 28 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 3,552 (46.5%) were institutionalized. The very high institutionalized percentage is a result of the presence of Pelican Bay State Prison, which was annexed into the city limits in the 1990s.

There were 1,707 households, out of which 559 (32.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 512 (30.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 314 (18.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 114 (6.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 170 (10.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 614 households (36.0%) were made up of individuals, and 229 (13.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38. There were 940 families (55.1% of all households); the average family size was 3.13.

The city population contained 1,107 people (14.5%) under the age of 18, 934 people (12.2%) aged 18 to 24, 3,292 people (43.1%) aged 25 to 44, 1,725 people (22.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 585 people (7.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 250.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 298.5 males.

There were 1,906 housing units at an average density of 789.2/sqmi (304.7/km<sup>2</sup>), of which 1,707 were occupied, of which 532 (31.2%) were owner-occupied, and 1,175 (68.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 7.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 1,203 people (15.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,860 people (37.4%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

In the California State Legislature, Crescent City is in ,

Transportation

Highway access is provided by U.S. Route 101, which runs directly through the city, connecting the Oregon Coast to the north and Eureka to the south. U.S. Route 199 begins north of Crescent City and runs northeast to Grants Pass, Oregon.

SkyWest Airlines formerly served Del Norte County Airport (also known as Jack McNamara Field) as United Express until April 7, 2015. Most flights connected to San Francisco International Airport. PenAir contracted to begin serving the airport with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft beginning September 15, 2015.

Advanced Air currently operates flights from Crescent City (CEC) to Oakland International Airport (OAK) and Los Angeles-Hawthorne Airport (HHR).

Local public transit is provided by Redwood Coast Transit and by various taxi companies. Crescent City is also served by Curry Public Transit, and POINT.

The Crescent City Harbor serves as a commercial fishing port for salmon, shrimp, tuna, cod, and dungeness crab commercial fishing vessels. The harbor is also home to multiple fishing- and non-fishing-related businesses and harbor governmental offices. The Crescent City Harbor also has several pleasure boat docks.

Arts and culture

Attractions

right|thumb|upright|Map of the area surrounding Crescent City

In town
Battery Point Lighthouse
Crescent City Harbor
Del Norte County Historical Society Main Museum
SS Emidio Memorial
Nearby
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
Lost Monarch (tree)—Largest known Coastal Redwood by volume.
Pelican Bay State Prison
Redwood National and State Parks
St. George Reef Lighthouse
Smith River National Recreation Area
Tolowa Dunes State Park
Trees of Mystery

Annual events

Forest Moon Festival – Star Wars-themed community festival – May
Fourth of July fireworks display – July
Sea Cruise Car Show Weekend – Columbus Day Weekend – October

Notable people

Eunice Bommelyn – tribal historian and the last person to speak Tolowa as a native first language
Loren Bommelyn – tradition bearer for the Tolowa tribe
Donald H. Clausen – American politician
James F. Curtis – commander of Camp Lincoln
Louis DeMartin – Del Norte County pioneer
David Owen Dryden – builder-architect in the craftsman style
Cody Hoffman – football wide receiver, and multi-record holder, for the football team of Brigham Young University
Rick Keene – California politician
Lee Kohse – artist
Clinton McKinnon – musician (Mr. Bungle)
Justin Miller – lawyer and a federal appellate judge
George Peacock, luthier
Buck Pierce – professional football player, Canadian Football League
Fred Rinne – visual and performance artist
Max Steineke – petroleum geologist
Audrey Wagner – outfielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Wendell Wood – conservationist and environmentalist

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Crescent City is twinned with:

Rikuzentakata, Japan (January 7, 2019)

References

External links

Visit Crescent City Visitor Information
The Story of Kamome