Ettersburg, California

Ettersburg (also, Etter[2]) is a locality[2] in Humboldt County, California. It is located 16.5 miles (27 km) west-northwest of Redway,[2] at an elevation of 676 feet (206 m).[3]

Ettersburg, California
Locale
Location in Humboldt County, California and the state of California
Ettersburg, California
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 40°08′19″N 123°59′50″W
Country United States
State California
CountyHumboldt County
Elevation669 ft (204 m)
Population
 (2010)
  Total10
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
  Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP Code
95542
Area code(s)707
GNIS feature IDs1659640; 2611448
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ettersburg, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ettersburg, California

History

A post office operated at Ettersburg from 1902 to 1906 and from 1915 to 1965.[2] The name comes from the ancestral home of homesteader Albert F. Etter.[2]

Development of Ettersburg

Albert's German-born mother, Wilhelmina (Kern) Etter (d. 1913) was skilled at cultivating plants, and Etter showed a talent for hybridizing plants in childhood, working with apples, peaches, dahlias, and strawberries by the time he was twelve. He attended public school and by the end of his teens was looking out for a site where he could continue his plant-breeding experiments. On a fishing trip to the Mattole River Valley, he found a section of land above Bear Creek and in 1894 he staked a claim to it.[4] This area along the Pacific coast in the King Range has wet winters and hot summers, and Etter later attributed his success partly to his choice of location. The site where Albert developed his ranch was subsequently named after him, first as Etter and then as Ettersburg.

Etter managed the ranch with three of his brothers, George, Fred, and August; and another four of his siblings also lived nearby.[5] While Etter focused on plant breeding, his brothers oversaw other kinds of farming and stockkeeping operations. The ranch holdings, operated under the business name Etter Brothers, eventually reached 800 acres in size. Although the Etter Brothers firm and the Ettersburg Experimental Place became internationally known among plant breeders, and Etter renowned as "the Luther Burbank of Humboldt County", they never made more than a modest living from the land.[6] For one thing, they were far removed from the main trucking and rail routes, and for another, new plant hybrids were not protected by the patent system until 1930.[4]

Geography

Ettersburg is located 16.5 miles (27 km) west-northwest of Redway[2] at an elevation of 676 feet (206 m).[3] Nearby cities are: Shelter Cove (17.8 miles south-southwest), Garberville (19.2 miles east/southeast) Benbow, (22.4 miles ESE), Weott (27 miles NNE), Redcrest (33.7 miles N), Alderpoint (35.7 miles E).

According to the USGS Site Map, the city has a drainage area 70.9 sq mi (184 km2).[7]

Ettersburg is in the Lost Coast region which includes Pacific Ocean coast, and several rivers. The location of Ettersburg on U.S. 101 is 241 mi (388 km) northwest of Sacramento and 300 mi (480 km) north of San Francisco. The next big city is Eureka, principal city and county seat of Humboldt County.

The city is only 15 mi (24 km) away with access the coast and increases in elevation slightly as it spreads north, south, and especially to the east.

The city then gives way to hills and mountains of the rugged coast range, which quickly exceed 3,200 ft (980 m) in elevation.

Education

Ettersburg once had an Elementary school from 1980 to 2012 serving 3 Grades.[8] The next school district is either in Shelter Cove, Whitehorn or in Garberville.

References

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