Cat #: 2004.44.112
|
From Boom to Bust...And BackEarly Industries in Humboldt County, 1850-1915
February 2- April 6, 2019 |
|
Early Humboldt County was immersed in a sea of redwoods, fog, and mountains-hard to traverse and navigate. It was a world upon itself, where local tribes lived and practiced, uninterrupted by the Spanish mission system and earlier attempts at extermination. Its rural locale didn’t exempt it from the settlement practices of Americans headed West in search of wealth-it just meant that the process would be delayed a few decades- and be heavily impacted by the rapid spread of technology and lax regulation of the Guilded era and frontier life.
|
Painting of Humboldt Bay in 1854. Cat #: 2001.85.11
|
Cat #: 2005.78.58
|
The overall culture of turn of the century 1850-1914 America played a role in the establishment of early industries in Humboldt County, which set the precedence for a natural resource dependent economy that persists to this day, almost 170 years later, shaping the lifestyles of past and current residents.
|
Click on the links below to learn more about the three main types of industry in Humboldt County between 1850 and 1915. Below each industry are biographies of people who worked in those industries, oftentimes moving from industry to industry over time.
Rural Connections:
The Role of Cultural Diffusion in Humboldt County’s Settlement
Members of the Croatian Fraternal Union. Cat # 1996.3.28
