One of our favourite series on Syfy is Eureka (link) it is about a small town called Eureka that was commissioned as a top-secret residential development in a remote area of the Pacific Northwest for research purposes where the worlds top minds can discover and research new stuff.
So driving down the California coast we decided to stay a night in the City of Eureka, but what we found was a lot different from what we anticipated.
Eureka is a peaceful city located on the Pacific coast of northern California, and as you drive into Eureka you cannot help but notice how amazingly the town is, the historic downtown part of the city has been restored to reflect the old colonial styles and a great selection of restaurants and shops line the streets, arts and crafts are everywhere to be seen and the whole vibe to the city is electrifying.
As you can see below the buildings have been restored and even the sidewalks resemble the 1922 Victorian style.
Eureka that is situated on the Humboldt Bay has a fascinating history as this part was repeatedly missed by explorers locating Humboldt Bay due to a combination of geographic features and weather conditions which concealed the narrow bay entrance from view. Despite a well-documented 1806 sighting by Russian explorers, the bay was not definitively known by Europeans until an 1849 overland exploration provided a reliable accounting of the exact location of what is the second largest bay in California, and this whole process took 300 years. The timing of this discovery would lead to the May 13, 1850 founding of the settlement of Eureka on its shore by the Union and Mendocino Exploring companies.
Below is a map so that it gives you a great idea of where Eureka is located.
The Eureka Theatre is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built-in 1937. It is listed as a Streamline Modern Theater. Unfortunately, we did not have time to go inside so here is just a picture from our hotel.
We stayed the night at the newly renovated “Eureka Inn”. It is an Elizabethan Tudor Revival architectural style hotel, which dates from 1922. The 93,000-square-foot (8,600 m2) hotel, which fully occupies a city block, has had up to 104 guest rooms, including 99 rooms and five full suites.
We checked in and were surprised by the sheer luxury of our room, heading downstairs for a glass of wine in the Redwood Bar. The colonial feel of the hotel immediately made us feel welcome.
The magnificent Carson Mansion on 2nd and M Streets is perhaps the most spectacular Victorian in the nation. The home was built between 1884–1886 by renowned 19th Century architects Newsom and Newsom for lumber baron William M. Carson. This project was designed to keep mill workers and expert craftsman busy during a slow period in the industry.
The Carson Mansion is regarded as one of the highest executions of American Queen Anne Style architecture, the home is “considered the grandest Victorian home in America.”
Milton Carson Home (aka the “Pink Lady”), a Queen Anne style Victorian, completed in 1889, was a wedding gift to the eldest son of William Carson, owner of the stunning Carson Mansion located across the street.
The architecture is truly amazing
Below are some images of Eureka as well as the Harbor.
Eureka’s founding and livelihood was and remains linked to Humboldt Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and related industries, especially fishing.
The city was voted as the No. 1 best small art town in John Villani’s book “The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America.” Eureka hosts the region’s largest monthly cultural and arts event, “Arts’ Alive!” on the first Saturday of each month.
