Houses once
used for workers at the lumber mills are solidly built with some of the
finest redwood available (top row). Row 2-left is a photo of an empty
mill building. Middle photo shows the Samoa Cookhouse.
Samoa, California
—Between
two Humboldt County's cities, Arcata and Eureka, lies the North Peninsula, a long sandy stretch of
land approximately 9.5 miles long and one mile wide. The Samoa Peninsula is
the land barrier that separates northern Humboldt Bay from the Pacific
Ocean. Once the jewel of Humboldt County, it featured pristine beaches
and protected bays. Located on that peninsula is a town called Samoa.
Many know and recognize it as a tourist attraction featuring the
Samoa Cookhouse. The cookhouse
and lumber mill may not have occurred, however, if events had
taken a different turn.
Like so many California beach
communities of the late 1800s and early 20th century, Samoa was
was initially purchased by private developers hoping to construct the
Coney Island of the Pacific. In 1892, several Eureka
business partners formed the Samoa Land and Improvement Company,
purchasing 270 acres that included one mile of waterfront extending
along Humboldt Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The company drew plans for a
beach destination with amusements and over 2,000 residential lots.
Competition was tough, however, and beach communities were hard to
promote without infrastructure and transportation. Unlike Southern
California beaches located in a semi-desert climate, Northern California
beaches received three to four times higher average annual rainfall,
were on average 10 to 15 degrees cooler throughout the year and were
more remote, lacking close proximity to a major city for growth.
In one short year the property was sold before plans for a resort
community even got off the ground.
Instead of a beach destination,
Samoa was purchased for use as a sawmill. It was sold in 1893 to E.H.&
S.A. Vance of Vance Redwood Company. Perched atop a hill overlooking the
Humbolt Bay, huge factory-style buildings were constructed to
handle the oversized giant redwood trees that grew so freely in this
area that boasts some of the oldest, largest redwood growth in the
world. Samoa took shape not as a tourist escape but as a working town
with a sawmill factory, Samoa Cookhouse (opened in 1893), modest
encampments for the workers.
Sold in just seven years, Hammond
Lumber Company took over the operations and expanded, building the
largest redwood sawmill with a sash and door factory in the world. In
1912 they purchased additional property and built housing units for the
families of lumberjacks and mill workers who could walk to the job in
less than 10 minutes. This self-contained community included a molding
plant, sorter shed, warehouses and shops. Steamship docks and logging
trains running from Little River through Fieldbrook and Arcata to Samoa
provided transportation of raw materials and finished goods. Operating
for 66 years, in 1956 Hammond Lumber Company closed its doors when it
received an offer from the corporate giant, Georgia Pacific.
By 1959, Georgia Pacific completed
construction of the world's largest plywood mill at Samoa. It took only
four years to expand and begin 500-ton per day bleached kraft pulp
production. Georgia Pacific was able to operate the mill in Samoa for 14
years until 1973, when the Federal Trade Commission ordered this huge
conglomerate to reduce its lumber assets and properties. Under a trade
agreement, Louisiana-Pacific Company operated the Samoa mill with
a full-time maintenance staff until 1998.
For over 100 years Samoa was a
company town that experienced its fair share of broken bones, cuts and
injuries, as well as births, birthdays and anniversaries. Although
several companies bought and sold the mill operations and surrounding
housing during that time, local residents were often hired to work for
the company acquiring the property. Children growing up in Samoa
received great educational opportunities and many followed in their
parents' footsteps, taking jobs at the mill when they were old enough.
A feature story from a 1998 issue
of North Coast Journal detailed one such person, Lois Busey, who grew up
around the mill during the 1950's. Her father, Merle Annis, worked there
and the family resided in Samoa. Lois Busey graduated from Arcata High
School in 1967 (there was no bridge to Eureka so Samoa students were
bused along the peninsula to Arcata schools) and got her first job at
the mill that year. From mail girl to Louisiana-Pacific's Western
Division head of PR, she worked 31 years at the company. Jet-setting
around the globe, she rubbed elbows with famous celebrities, yet always
returned to Samoa. Spending the majority of her life in this mill town,
Busey even outlasted all her bosses who were hired, fired or promoted
out of the plant. Sadly, she could not overcome the final, inevitable
lay-offs in 1998 when the company was sold.
A small cocktail party ended her
career at this 105-year Samoa lumber industry location with little
fanfare or celebration. Much as the industry itself began to fade from
the Samoa landscape, those who lived in its cottages and houses saw the
demise of a way of life known for a century.
No longer the lucrative industry
providing an economic base and employment to the North Coast region of
California, forestry inventories have become depleted, requiring the
town of Samoa to re-invent itself in the 21st Century. In 2001, the town
of Samoa was put up for sale by the Simpson-Samoa Company and purchased
by the Samoa Pacific Group, LLC as a result of an international auction.
The good news is that the Coney
Island dream of 100 years ago is a bit closer to the mark, now that
Samoa's lumber mill has run its course. During the past 100 years, the
population in California has grown from 1,485,053 in 1900 to nearly 36
million today. The most populated regions are near the coast and with
little room to grow in Southern California, this northern region looks
attractive. Though thrill rides are not exactly on the drawing board,
read more about what's being planned for the piece of land overlooking a
bay.
Samoa Pacific Group, LLC is a
group of local investors who seek to preserve the historical character
of the townsite. Acquiring dune lands as well, they own approximately
150 -170 acres. The land purchased at auction included the town of
98 houses, a restored hostelry, a post office, gymnasium, the Samoa
Cookhouse, gift shop, fire house, wood shop, former gas station, the
Women’s Club, and an existing sewage treatment system. Samoa Pacific
Group also purchased industrial and dune lands. Historical uses of the
industrial zoned portion of the site include sawmills, drykilns, lumber
and log storage, a bio-mass power plant, rail shipping facilities and
warehouses. The site includes a dock with deep-water access. The County
of Humboldt has updated its General Plan and is considering a Local
Coastal Plan amendment and zoning change to reflect the desired land
uses.
Ambitious plans under
consideration for this valuable property include housing, tourist
facilities, commercial development and a business park. The core of the
project area is centered around the town of Samoa and north of the pulp
mill. In August 2002, the applicants submitted a Master Plan for
the Samoa town site prepared by RNL Design in collaboration with The
Planning Studio of Kevin Young. The Master Plan covers 174 acres of land
in and adjacent to the existing town. The Master Plan provides includes
tourist-oriented accommodation and retail uses, new and renovated
housing, business and industrial uses, historic/cultural/recreational
uses, community uses and parks and open spaces.
The Master Plan for town site
development presented in 2002 included a Historic/Cultural Precinct
focused around the Samoa Cookhouse (including a number of structures
housing historic, cultural and museum entities); 365 residential units
(including 57 existing residential units) with a mix of 25
high-end custom lots, 136 new lots, 23 multi-family units, 68 affordable
housing units and 56 senior housing units; retail boutiques, services,
tourist-oriented shops and galleries; a new landscaped town square to be
developed on the existing parking lot across from the Samoa Block;
renovation of Samoa Block to provide 23,000 square feet for community
uses, including a meeting hall, management company/association offices,
recreation and professional office space; tourist-oriented accommodation
to include a 75-room lodge with 500-person conference center, 250-person
performing arts center and spa, 19 vacation cottages, and a 71-space
recreational vehicle park; a business park with light industrial,
warehousing, showroom, small business/office uses.
Transitions―As 20th Century Samoa
mill workers were outplaced in a changing 21st Century landscape, Wiyot
Indians who lived on Samoa for centuries previous to this time were
removed physically from their peninsula paradise during the 1800's. Often killed or
transported to reservations, evidence of a large village on the east
side of the peninsula is documented through archaeological finds.
Enjoying wildlife, ample food, water and an abundance of building
material nearby, Indian artifacts are sometimes discovered on the the
beaches and islands surrounding Humboldt Bay even today. The Wiyot
gathered shellfish and discarded the shell remains in heaps. The
scattered remnants of these heaps may be seen throughout Samoa Dunes
Recreation Area park.
Samoa Dunes Recreation Area is a
300 acre park managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a
multiple-use recreation site for hiking, surfing, fishing, sightseeing,
beachcombing, off-highway vehicle (OHV) use, picnicking and birdwatching.
In the 1850's the U.S. government erected a lighthouse near the center
of what is now the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area. The beacon was too low
to be seen clearly from the ocean so the lighthouse was abandoned in
1867. Remains of the lighthouse may be seen in the Wetland Protection
Area. Also of historical interest are the World War II Coast Guard
ammunition bunkers that can be seen near the OHV staging area at Samoa
Dunes.
On the northeast section of Samoa
Dunes Recreation Area, 40 acres of protected /restored native plant
communities contain the endangered Humboldt Bay wallflower endemic to
northern California coastal dunes. Several stages of coastal dunes,
including seasonal wetlands can be viewed at the recreation area, as
well.
Closest to the ocean where sand
deposition occurs is the strand. Dry sand from the strand moves by wind
to form foredunes that include scant vegetation, wind, salt spray and
low soil moisture. As wind moves from the foredunes with increasing
velocity, sand scours out deflation plains. Fresh water collects in such
low-lying areas during the winter months, forming ponds or wetlands.
Here you'll find Marsh hawks in the willow thickets.
OHV enthusiasts can use a staging
area with an unloading ramp, restroom, tables, cooking grills and a
scenic overlook. From the staging area, riders have easy access to 140
acres of "open" terrain, containing numerous trails and the beach
strand. An additional new 75-acre riding area known as Eureka Dunes is
open to OHV use and extends about 1 mile north of the park. The rest of
the beach and dunes along the peninsula are closed to vehicle use,
except by special permit from the county.
Samoa also is home to Samoa
Airport, built in 1943 by the Navy. May 22, 1943 the first Commander was
sent, Lieutenant W.W. Bemis, U.S.N. Pilot. The base would eventually
house 60 men.
