Ferndale, California

Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,398 at the 2020 census, up from 1,371 at the 2010 census. The city is well known for its dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the northern gateway to California's Lost Coast and the city, which is sited on the edge of a wide plain near the mouth of the Eel River, is also located near extensive preserves of coast redwood forests.

History

Before American settlement, Ferndale was a glade of giant ferns reaching more than , surrounded by alder, willow, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, coast redwood, swampy land, and windswept prairies. The area was populated by the southern Wiyot people, and centered along the Eel River, where they caught lamprey eels, salmon and sturgeon in iris leaf fish nets and collected shellfish along the river and at its mouth, while cultivating a California species of tobacco.

The town was established in 1852 from settlement by Willard Allard, Seth Louis Shaw, and his brother, American portrait painter Stephen William Shaw. and kept a detailed journal of two years of trying to grow plants in cold coastal fog.

Seth Shaw settled in the area now marked by Main and Lewis streets where he began construction of the Gothic Revival style Shaw House on his property in 1854. The Shaw House served as the area's first polling place in 1854, post office and courthouse in 1863. Seth Shaw was justice of the peace and postmaster, and his home served for many gatherings although it was not finished until 1866. through pipes first laid in 1875. They worked in gold mining on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, before settling mostly in Eureka, with a few in outlying towns like Ferndale where two Chinese owned clothes washing businesses.

In 1916, Grey and Jensen moved to San Francisco and changed the company name to Golden State Creamery In 1900, the telephone line was extended to the Mattole Oil fields in Petrolia. In 1911, the Eel River and Southern Telephone company consolidated operations around Ferndale, and, on February 6, 1960, dial telephones were introduced; the old switchboard and crank phones are on display at the Ferndale Museum.

The Ferndale Enterprise newspaper was founded on May 11, 1878, by three sons of the local Methodist minister and has published continuously since then, while moving offices and shifting from semi-weekly to weekly publication.

Incorporation and services

Ferndale incorporated with a vote of 89 in favor and 47 against on August 17, 1893, primarily to organize drainage and prevent dogs and other animals from running loose, according to the earliest ordinances enacted. The name on the side of this engine was "Franklin" because the city bought it from the Franklin Fire Company of San Jose, California. The engine was transferred to the newly formed Ferndale Fire Department when they organized in February 1897. In November 1923, after 41 years in service, the hand pumper was shipped to the American LaFrance Company, "as part payment on the fine new pumper recently purchased by this town." Other sources say the engine was sold to a Hollywood film company.

Geography

right|Location of Ferndale, California

Ferndale is located at .

On January 22, 1923, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake centered off Cape Mendocino was said to be nearly as great a shock in Ferndale as the 1906 earthquake and produced a tsunami. Chimneys fell, water mains and plate glass windows broke, and the recently repaired Odd Fellows building fell off its new foundation. The earthquake arrived with a ground rumble and a flash of light.

On August 20, 1927, an earthquake centered about west of Arcata caused considerable damage around Humboldt Bay, and damage reports from Ferndale included broken chimneys, merchandise tossed from shelves and china and glassware broken.thumb|2010 earthquake map

Smaller earthquakes were recorded from the 1920s through the 1980s, but the next big earthquake to strike Ferndale was actually three earthquakes collectively named the 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquakes. The first of these struck on April 25 during the first "Best of the West" festival parade, shattering the glass windows of the stores on Main Street. The brick facade of Valley Grocery collapsed, and police estimated damage to 80 percent of the downtown buildings. and had a magnitude of 7.1. The other two large earthquakes hit within 18 hours of the first and were of magnitude 6.5 and 6.7. Both a large landslide and several small landslides occurred on the Mattole Road, which also cracked due to downhill slumping and soil compaction of the road shoulders. It was the largest local earthquake since the 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquakes.

On December 20, 2022, the 2022 Ferndale earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 centered approximately from Ferndale impacted the city and temporarily closed Fernbridge.

Almost 2 years after that earthquake, on December 5, 2024, the 2024 Cape Mendocino earthquake struck the city. With a magnitude of 7.0, and having an epicenter of only 62 miles (100 km) southwest of Ferndale, the earthquake was felt in the city and the rest of Humboldt County. It also sparked a tsunami warning, but due to the nature of the earthquake, no tsunami materialized.

Climate

Ferndale's climate is moderated by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean and in the lee of the Wildcat Hills. Winter temperatures rarely go below freezing and summer days are rarely over . Ferndale has a warm summer Mediterranean climate indicated by the code "Csb" on some weather maps. Ferndale receives most of its roughly of rain from November to May, with lesser amounts in the summer months. Local microclimates are varied and support tropical palm trees and Sitka spruce, including a mature Sitka forest in Russ Park, and the over spruce lighted every year for Christmas. Morning fogs are common year round.

A weather station was run in the town from 1963 to 1973. The climate is similar to that of nearby Eureka.

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Ferndale had a population of 1,398, with a population density of . The median age was 48.9 years. The age distribution was 252 people (18.0%) under the age of 18, 115 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 281 people (20.1%) aged 25 to 44, 344 people (24.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 406 people (29.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males age 18 and over.

The whole population lived in households. There were 620 households, out of which 158 (25.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 278 (44.8%) were married-couple households, 48 (7.7%) were cohabiting couple households, 195 (31.5%) had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 99 (16.0%) had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 169 households (27.3%) were made up of individuals, and 98 (15.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25, and there were 400 families (64.5% of all households).

There were 719 housing units at an average density of , of which 620 (86.2%) were occupied. Of these, 396 (63.9%) were owner-occupied and 224 (36.1%) were occupied by renters. 13.8% of housing units were vacant; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 1.3%.

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|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census

2010 census

The 2010 United States census reported that Ferndale had a population of 1,371. The population density was . The racial makeup of Ferndale was 1,281 (93.4%) White, 1 (0.1%) African American, 22 (1.6%) Native American, 20 (1.5%) Asian, 2 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 17 (1.2%) from other races, and 28 (2.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 77 persons (5.6%).

The Census reported that 1,371 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 611 households, out of which 149 (24.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 294 (48.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 55 (9.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 27 (4.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 38 (6.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 6 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. There were 194 households (31.8%) made up of individuals, and 91 (14.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24. There were 376 families (61.5% of all households); the average family size was 2.84.

The population was spread out, with 283 people (20.6%) under the age of 18, 75 people (5.5%) aged 18 to 24, 283 people (20.6%) aged 25 to 44, 422 people (30.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 308 people (22.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.

There were 717 housing units at an average density of , of which 611 were occupied, of which 388 (63.5%) were owner-occupied, and 223 (36.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.0%. 926 people (67.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 445 people (32.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Economy

The local economy is a mixture of dairies and ranching, agricultural support, retail and services. On July 18, 2013, the California Employment Development Department identified Ferndale as having the second lowest unemployment rate (1.7%) of all cities in the state, led only by Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Arts and culture

Tourism

Ferndale, sometimes also referred to as "Cream City", is known for well-preserved Victorian storefronts on Main Street and homes throughout the community, which are also known as "Butterfat Palaces," due to their construction wherein considerable wealth was generated in the dairy industry. Many of these buildings date from the 1880s. The entire town is registered as California Historical Landmark #883.

Six historic buildings as well as the Ferndale Main Street Historic District and the Fern Cottage Historic District are within or around Ferndale and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

File:Ferndale CA LM883 plaque.jpg|Landmark #883 plaque in Town Hall Park

File:Shaw House Ferndale CA frontview.jpg|alt=Shaw House,|Shaw House

File:Alford-Nielson House 2015.JPG|Alford–Nielson House

File:Ferndale CA Andreasen-Rossen House.jpg|Andreasen–Rossen House

File:Ferndale CA Berding House Gum Drop Trees.jpg|A. Berding House, "Gum Drop Tree House"

File:Ferndale CA Fern Cottage.jpg|Fern Cottage (California) Historical District

File:Ferndale CA Main Street to North.jpg|Main Street Historical District

File:Ferndale CA Public Library.jpg|Ferndale Public Library

File:Ferndale CA Rectory 563 Ocean.jpg|Rectory, Catholic Church of the Assumption, now a private home

File:Ferndale CA Gingerbread Mansion 2014.jpg|Gingerbread Mansion in 2014

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Other points of interest include the Ferndale City Hall, Ferndale Museum, Ferndale Cemetery, St. Mary's Cemetery, Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Saint Mark's Lutheran Church, Church of the Assumption, the Congregational Church (now the Community Church), and the Humboldt County Fairgrounds.

Annual events

thumb|The tallest living Christmas tree in the country lit in 2021

The Humboldt County Fair has been held every August since 1896 at the county fairgrounds on the edge of Ferndale, and feature the only horse-racing events in the county along with agricultural, pastoral and artistic contests, carnival games, carnival amusement rides, and commercial and nonprofit booths.

Every year since 1934 in early December, local volunteer firefighters climb and light one of America's tallest living Christmas trees, an approximately spruce, during a celebration of song held at Fireman's Park.

The Ferndale Lighted Tractor Parade has been held every mid-December since 1993.

The Fray In Ferndale, a slot car race with the highest attendance of this type of event anywhere in the world has been held since 1997. More than 100 racers on sixteen teams arrive to compete on eight custom-built tables.

The Foggy Bottom Milk Run has been held (excluding two years for COVID) each March since 1977. Races were held in , , and distances. Beginning in 2024, only the will be run.

The Kinetic sculpture race has finished each May since 1969 in front of 393 Main Street. The race began in Ferndale when Hobart Brown was challenged to race his odd-looking five-wheeled bike down Main Street on Mother's Day that year by local sculptor Jack Mays. Multiple races were held in the first few years, but standardized on the current course in the late 1970s. The triangular park was filled with material graded from the southern end of Main Street, and a Clubhouse (now City Hall) was finished in 1931. The building was styled to look like an English cottage. The Community Center in Fireman's Park was built in 1922. It includes a large dance and meeting pavilion with attached kitchen. The Ferndale Children's Center has occupied part of the pavilion since 1991.

Hadley Gardens

Located at 655 Main Street, next to the Shaw House, the creekside gardens include a replica dollhouse, native flora, a waterfall, and a "hobbit house".

Russ Park

Russ Park, located three blocks east of Main Street on Bluff Street, is open sunrise to sunset. which is the southern extent of the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest.

Government

thumb|Ferndale Town Hall

thumb|250px|[[Guy Fieri receives the key to the city of Ferndale from the Ferndale City Council at a special council meeting, November 23, 2012.]]

Local

Ferndale was incorporated in 1893 and is governed by a four-member City Council and a Mayor, all of whom serve four-year terms chosen in the general election of even-numbered years.

In 2004 the City Council placed Measure O on the municipal ballot to eliminate the elective office of Mayor, instead proposing to appoint the position by a vote of the City Council from the council members. The measure was defeated with 78.8% voting against. When the Mayor's seat was next open for election in 2006, all of the mayoral candidates were write-ins.

State and federal

In the state legislature, Ferndale is in , and .

Federally, Ferndale is in .

Education

thumb|Ferndale Elementary School

The Ferndale Unified School District has two schools, the Ferndale Elementary School with grades K–8 and the Ferndale High School. The elementary school is the older, dating back to the 1860s with school rooms and houses in various locations.

Ferndale has an active sports program with junior varsity and varsity softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer and football. Ferndale won its 14th California football sectional title and the California Interscholastic Federation Division 7-AA football championship in 2023. The girls' soccer team won the California North Coast Section championship in 2023. In 2011, the Milk Can was stolen from Ferndale High School during a break-in by three Fortuna High School students, thrown over a bluff, and later recovered by police.

Since 1998, the Ferndale Repertory Theatre has offered The Marilyn McCormick Performing Arts Scholarship to local high school seniors. Sara Bareilles was the first recipient of the scholarship.

Media

Ferndale is home to the oldest newspaper under a single name in Humboldt County, The Ferndale Enterprise. Commercial radio station KHUM operates in a joint studio with KLGE, KSLG-FM and KWPT. Ferndale is also home to the North Coast's oldest theatre company, The Ferndale Repertory Theatre which has been in operation since 1972.

Infrastructure

Affordable housing

thumb|250px|Lt. Jeremy M. Schwartz hands the keys of surplus U.S. Navy Housing to Mayor Jeff Farley at the Navy Housing Picnic Shelter in Ferndale, California, on October 23, 2011.

U.S. Navy Housing was built for staff of the 37-acre Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Centerville Beach, Centerville, California which was commissioned on March 25, 1958. Originally the base was staffed by 95 people, but grew to over 280 people. The 52-unit Ferndale Navy Housing was built as part of this project. The NAVFAC was decommissioned on September 30, 1993.

The U.S. Coast Guard subsequently occupied the Navy Housing but vacated the housing units in October 2008. The property was returned to the Navy which declared the units surplus. In order to acquire the housing, a ballot initiative was required. The city placed Measure S on the ballot for the November 2, 2010, election. Measure S passed 516 (74.57%) to 176 (25.43%) approving the city's plan to acquire low- and moderate-income housing from the Navy.

The Ferndale City Council voted to purchase the housing from the Navy for $1.00 on September 1, 2011. The city began negotiations with the nonprofit O'Rourke Foundation, part of the Bertha Russ Lytel Foundation, to take over and run the 52-unit project as an affordable housing project. The Navy housing is ten percent of the available housing in the city. The 24 single-family homes, 14 duplex townhouses, three playgrounds and two community buildings of the former Navy Housing were transferred from the Navy to the city in a public ceremony with Congressman Mike Thompson on October 23, 2011.

Drinking water

The Ferndale water system was installed by Mr. Francis Francis in 1872.

Wastewater treatment

Ferndale's first sewage treatment facility and combined sewer system was built in 1953 and upgraded in 1973, 1994 and 2001. Improvements were made to the sewers in 1989 under a $400,000 project funded by the California State Water Resources Control Board to improve the collection system and reduce inflow and infiltration. Williams Creek had been the major tributary of the Salt River near the treatment plant, so diversion lowered the volume of water available and caused the dilution ratios at the plant to exceed permitted levels. On May 15, 2003, the Regional Water Board (RWB) placed a Cease and Desist order on Ferndale due to discharges of treated wastewater which exceeded one percent of the flow of Francis Creek / Salt River stream system. The city paid a $48,000 penalty to the RWB and agreed to complete an environmental project instead of paying $78,000 more in penalties to the RWB

Notable people

Jack Bear — costume designer and Academy Award nominee
Hobart Brown — artist
Peter Buckley — Oregon State Representative
Len Casanova — athlete and coach
Bobby Clark — actor
Donald Clausen — Congressman
Sam Dungan — professional baseball player
Cornelius Van Hemert Engert — United States diplomat who served in Ethiopia, Iran, and Afghanistan
Albert Etter — plant breeder best known for his work on strawberry and apple varieties
Frank Ferguson — character actor
Guy Fieri — chef, restaurateur and Food Network star
Seth Kinman — pioneer
Rob Nairne — linebacker National Football League
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane — musician
Joe Oeschger — major league baseball pitcher
Stephen W. Shaw — pioneer artist
Edward L. Wilson — civil engineer

In popular culture

thumb|250px|Some of Ferndale's historic buildings at [[Legoland California. Left to right top: Abraxas Building, Victorian Inn, NVB Bank Building, Hobart Galleries, and the IOOF hall. The order of the buildings is not the same as in reality.]]

Filming location

Ferndale has been featured in such movies as The Majestic and Outbreak. It has appeared in such made-for-television movies as Salem’s Lot, It was also the location of the iconic “I'm a Pepper” commercial for Dr. Pepper.

Ferndale was also featured by Huell Howser in Road Trip Episode 149, the science fiction horror cult film She Demons (1958), the award-winning short film Nonnie & Alex (1995), and the comedy-drama Kingdom Come (2001).

Legoland model replica

Many of Ferndale's buildings have been recreated at the Legoland California theme park, as the only American small town to be represented alongside New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas and other nationally known locations. Ferndale was settled by many Danes, and Lego is a Danish company. In 1995, Legoland staff took hundreds of photos in Ferndale, and used over one million Lego bricks to recreate the town in the Miniland section of the park.

References

External links

Ferndale Chamber of Commerce site has an event calendar, history of town and much more information
Ferndale History Museum is an active research institution
Ferndale's Carnegie Library
Virtual Walk on Main Street A building-by-building description of Historic Main Street
The 1906 Earthquake More famous for its devastation of San Francisco, California, photographs and description of the destruction caused by the quake.