Ship Building on Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay was first thought of by the settlers of the 1850s as a port for supplying the Trinity Mountain gold fields. Then a new source of income was discovered – the “red gold” of timber. And that gave rise to another need as well as another income source – ship building.
Ships were needed to move timber to San Francisco, the nearest commercial port, and then around the world. And as the communities around Humboldt Bay grew, ships were also needed to transport other goods and passengers to and from our shores. Fortunately, the timber needed to build these ships was right at hand.
It didn’t take long for enterprising sorts to take advantage of this. Before the 1860s were out, a number of ship building yards appeared around the bay, including sites on the Samoa peninsula, Bucksport, Gunther Island and several along the Eureka waterfront. And although redwood would be a principle cargo for these ships, the preferred wood for their construction was local pine and fir.
In time, Humboldt ship building gained a reputation as among the best in the world. The lead name in that field, unquestionable became Bendixen. Born in 1842 in Denmark, Hans Bendixson worked as a journeyman in Danish ship yards before signing on as a ship’s carpenter for a trip around the Horn, landing him in San Francisco in 1863. He worked in shipyards there for five years before moving to Eureka.
His first job here was working for Euphronius Cousins who ran a shipbuilding yard at the foot of J Street. After a time, Bendixson founded his own yard two blocks to the east and from there launched his first ship, the schooner “Fairy Queen” in 1867. Soon outgrowing this space, he bought the facilities of the Fay Brothers across the bay in Samoa.
There, the business rapidly grew, and Bendixson soon built an adjacent lumber mill to supply materials for his ships. Housing for his workers was provided in the new town of Fairhaven. There were downs as well as ups, however, including a disastrous fire in 1890 and a threatened strike which Bendixson settled by agreeing to drop the hours for his employees from ten to nine hours a day.
Ship launchings became a much-anticipated community celebration. With a launching scheduled at Bendixson’s, east bay schools and businesses often closed, and ferries plied across the bay bringing celebrants with their picnic lunches. Ladies broke ceremonial bottles on the prows, bands and often bagpipes played, and dignitaries enjoyed champagne banquets.
During its many years of operation, Bendixson’s yard launched over 200 ships – steamers, sailing ships and even oil tankers. After Bendixson’s death in 1902, the Samoa yard was sold to San Francisco mayor, businessman and later, California Governor, James Rolf. The name of the workers’ town, Fairhaven, was for a while changed to “Rolf”. As World War I approached, the output of the yard turned to making wooden ships for the war effort and to replacing those civilian ships appropriated by the military.
As the 20th century continued, wooden ships largely fell out of favor, and the Rolf yard closed in 1924. However, another war briefly brought Humboldt Bay into the maritime building business again. The Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, at the foot of Washington Street in Eureka, manufactured floating steel drydocks, employing not only previous shipyard workers but also a number of women who found employment while men were away at war. At a different shipyard in Fields Landing, wooden tugboats were constructed for the British Ministry of War for use in Asia.
The grand days of Humboldt ship building ended by the mid-20th century. And although some smaller boats continue to be made and refurbished locally, they generally use materials other than wood.
However, many photographs of those early days as well as books and information files, can now be found at the Humboldt County Historical Society. There, preserving our past, whether on sea or land, is our job and our passion.