Historic Ferndale near Avenue of the Giants
Humboldt County south of Eureka, CA
Continued from: Coast Redwoods Main Page
advertisement
Copyright 2009 - 2015 by Mario Vaden
Ferndale is an interesting village town known for the Victorian buildings, some called Butterfat Palaces. They were constructed when considerable wealth was available for the dairy industry, especially the 1880s.
The entire town of Ferndale, California, is a historical landmark.
Ferndale is a tiny class-act worth keeping in mind when you travel between redwood parks. There are plenty of things to do, including restaurants, shopping and architecture.
The photograph above shows the historic Victorian Inn on the corner of Ocean x Main streets, built 1891 as the Russ-Williams Bank. It included a millinary store, haberdashery and the Ferndale Enterprise newspaper.
Continue reading after this image of the Victorian Inn
Ferndale has been the endpoint for the annual Kinetic Sculpture race, and a film location featured in movies like The Majestic, Outbreak and Salem’s Lot.
And Ferndale was also used twice for Star Trek.
Ferndale vs. Coeur d'Alene for Worlds Tallest
December 2010, I measured a spruce at Ferndale, at that time considered the 2nd tallest live Chrismas tree in the USA: reported 150' tall. I got 151.25' using a hand-held laser, and 8.37' diameter with a tape wrap.
Some sources listed a 161' Idaho pine as the tallest, but Ferndale Chamber of Commerce site said their spruce was tallest.
Apparently, firemen removed lights from the Ferndale spruce January, 2011, and measured a surprising gain to 162'. "Old school ... tape measure and a plumb bob"
Through back channels, I heard that the Idaho pine has been several pines. My December measurement triggered a news story in the Coeur d'Alene news:
Ferndale Spruce vs. Coeur d'Alene Pine
If anyone is willing to sponsor a measuring expedition, I'm game to come back to Ferndale with someone like Michael Taylor. Meanwhile,
I repeated the measurement April 2011 using a tripod mounted laser and got 151.5 feet. I heard that engineers, 2 months earlier, got 152.5 feet. Although engineers are not evergreen experts, their measurement is close to the real height.
Feel free to read, download and share my report on the Ferndale spruce
Download ... M. D. Vaden Ferndale Spruce Report
More Ferndale
Official City of Ferndale Online
That Ferndale site should list the Chamber of Commerce, which provides more information about this town.
One more photo from Ferndale. The historic Gingerbread Mansion
advertisement