Bookstore

All profits from bookstore sales support our non-profit organization. Purchasing a book about Humboldt County History, gifts, or ephemeral items from our bookstore is a great way to support the work we do!

Back issues of the Humboldt Historian are available in the bookstore or by phone order. Due to the wide variation in shipping and handling costs, issues cannot be purchased online. Please call (707) 445-4342 during open hours to place your order. Bulk discounts are available!

We do have a selection of used books which are not included on the website. If you’re looking for a particular book, please give us a call. We’ll be happy to check the shelves for you! We mail books out on the Friday following your order.

Members receive a 10% discount on all regularly priced books.
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Book of the Month - November 2024
Two Peoples, One Place
$23.95 - 20% off the regular price of $29.95
One of the best overall histories of Humboldt County, with a significant emphasis on local indigenous peoples.

 

Southeast Humboldt Hinterlands

Southeast Humboldt Hinterlands

from $53.95

By Jerry Rohde. One of three follow-up volumes to Jerry’s book, “Both Sides of the Bluff.” He found so much information that the second volume turned into three! It covers the years from 1850 to 1964 and is illustrated with over 175 full-color historical photographs and maps. From Iaqua to Harris, from Carlotta to Dinsmore, this work covers the 28 towns and places that make up this remote corner of the county.

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           Jerry Rhode, one of our most prolific local historians, has a number of books for sale at the Historical Society bookstore. One of the most recent is "Southeast Humboldt Hinterlands".  It is the fourth in his "History of Humboldt County People and Places" series that resulted from over 30 years of research. This book and its predecessor about the southwest hinterlands follow up on his "Southern Humboldt Indians" which tells the story of area's indigenous people prior to 1850.

        This book tells the stories of individual communities and events in the area from Iaqua  to the Mendocino  County line and from Mail Ridge to the Trinity County line.  Thoroughly researched, it is replete with colored historic photos and maps. As the probably least known part of our county, even to Humboldters, the book fills in a gap in our understanding of our area's colorful history.  In 28 chapters, it covers geographically arranged sites as well as connecting events such as the rise and fall of ranching and the building of Highway 36 up to and including the devastating 1964 flood. 

       In Rhode's very approachable style, we learn about the families and entrepreneurs that founded these places; the development of schools, post offices and roads that connected them; and the timber, ranching and fruit growing that sustained them.  Most chapters begin with the initial interaction between the native inhabitants and the settlers which led to the establishment of several military outposts. We also learn about the effects of railroads and timbering, bootlegging during during Prohibition, repeated floods, and the establishment of resorts - some successful and some less so. 

       As sources, Rhode liberally uses written accounts by people who lived there, and has colorful sidebars  that highlight compelling subjects like notorious crimes and the beloved railroad dog Boomer Jack.  No question, reading one of these hinterland books gives us a detailed and intimate awareness of our diverse Humboldt. 

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The Humboldt Bay Region, 1850-1875

from $7.65
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In & Around the Arena: The 100-Year History of the Fortuna Rodeo

from $49.50
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Eureka & Sequoia Park

from $22.49
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Place Names of Humboldt County, California: A Compendium, 1542-2009

from $45.00
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California: A Slave State

from $31.50