Old Town Eureka
Old Town Eureka, on the north coast of California, is the art, shopping and dining destination in the heart of the redwoods. You'll find Old Town just two blocks off of Highway 101, in Eureka, a historic logging and fishing town perched on the edge of Humboldt Bay. Eureka is surrounded by the largest ancient redwood forests in the world. Redwood National Park located 45 minutes to the north and the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park is only a half hour to the south.
Eureka's classic Old Town retains much of the flavor of its Victorian architecture and faces the picturesque marina on Woodley Island. Old Town features unique gift shops, bookstores, boutiques, museums, antique stores, galleries, and a wide array of wonderful restaurants. Historically connected to its original commercial seaport, Eureka's Old Town is listed as a National Historic and Cultural Arts District. On a rise at the end of historic Second Street sits the Carson Mansion, a masterpiece of Victorian splendor, one of more than 1,000 Victorian homes in Eureka.
Whether your visit to Humboldt County includes walking among the towering redwood trees, participating in the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race, or dancing at our annual spring Jazz Festival, you will find a warm welcome in Old Town Eureka.
ABOUT US
Old Town Eureka, the historic waterfront commercial district on California's far northwest coast, is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. With more than 100 Victorian buildings, the area is one of the most well-preserved commercial districts in the West.
Filled with coffee shops, fine restaurants, art galleries, antique stores, museums, and one-of-a-kind shops, Old Town offers a unique shopping and browsing experience in the heart of the redwood belt.
The town of Eureka was founded in 1850 as a shipping point for the logging industry, which sprang up all along Humboldt Bay. Eureka quickly grew into the commercial hub of the redwood region and became the seat of Humboldt County. The Old Town district expanded quickly from the 1870s to 1890s, filling with dry goods stores, hotels, and saloons to serve the timber industry and the growing fishing and whaling trade.
By the 1920s, Old Town had been taken over with saloons and houses of ill repute, and the area began a slow decline until redevelopment efforts, beginning in the 1970s, began to turn the area around. Now Old Town boasts a beautiful new boardwalk along the bay, wide sidewalks, brick streets, and historic lighting. It is now the cultural and historic capital of Humboldt County.
OLD TOWN MERCHANTS GROUP
Old Town Merchants Group is an all volunteer association formed in order to promote Old Town Eureka. If you are a merchant in Old Town and would like to be included or if you are a visitor and have questions, please contact Phil at Many Hands Gallery or Scott at Eureka Books.
THINGS TO DO
On California's redwood coast, Old Town Eureka is the social center, hosting a wide variety of events all year including the Farmer's Market on Tuesday mornings during the summer and fall, Arts Alive on the first Saturday of every month, free concerts on the boardwalk all summer long, classic cars during "Cruzin' Eureka" in August, a great home town 4th of July festival with fireworks over the bay, and Blues by the Bay on Labor Day weekend, just to name a few.
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