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.

 

Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Eureka to Willits

Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Eureka to Willits

from $22.49

by Susan J.P. O’Hara, Alex Service & the Fortuna Depot Museum. "The year 2014 marks the centennial of the completion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP), celebrated by driving a 'golden spike' at Cain Rock in October 1914. This achievement was the culmination of a massive, six-year engineering effort to connect rail lines ending at Willits with the early lumber company railroads of the Humboldt Bay region."

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       Prior to arrival of the railroad, transportation into Humboldt was limited to rough unpaved roads or hazardous ocean travel.  There were railroads, but these were built by lumber companies to carry their timber to the bay for shipping out.  This book covers that early stage and then moves on to the effort to connect the two "Bay Areas" by rail, thus fostering the local timber boom and allowing passengers and tourists to discover Humboldt County.      

       In over 200 historic photographs with informative captions, the book illustrates the long effort to plan and construct the NWP, the many people and communities involved, the grand opening ceremony, and the floods, fires and landslides that plagued it.  The story ends with its eventual decline and the abandoned tracks, monuments and memories it left behind.

       For railroad buffs and anyone interested in what was a major backbone of Humboldt history, this book is a must.

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Eureka & Humboldt County

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

from $45.00
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The Once and Future Forest: California's Iconic Redwoods

from $23.40
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We Are Dancing For You

from $27.00
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In & Around the Arena: The 100-Year History of the Fortuna Rodeo

from $49.50