Trinidad is the smallest incorporated city in Humboldt County. The seaport town has 320 residents and a long history that stretches back more than 350 years.

  The Tsurai Indians had built up to a dozen homes and facilities for ceremonial brush dances and burial grounds. Many of their descendants are still living in Trinidad. In 1775, Spanish captains Heceta and Bodega found Trinidad’s natural harbor on Trinity Sunday. They dropped anchor, planted a cross and dubbed the town Trinidad.

  In 1849, Trinidad became a boomtown and supplied gold seekers headed for mines on the Klamath, Salmon and Trinity rivers.

  Goods and gear were sent to the port of Trinidad, and North Coast lumber used to build the city of San Francisco was loaded up for the return trip. The Tsurai Village, a historical site that includes a traditional burial ground, sits on the bluff above the harbor, below the Memorial Lighthouse. The Tsurai Ancestral Society maintains an ongoing effort to preserve the integrity of the site. It is not available to the public.

  Trinidad Head is a huge rock outcropping that shelters the harbor on its east side and is home to a small U.S. Coast Guard Station and the Humboldt State University marine biology laboratory.

  Today, Trinidad is a surfer’s haven and offers coastal visitors everything from fine dining to hiking along Trinidad Head and beachcombing. Several small tourist shops can also be found along Trinity Street. The Trinidad Rancheria operates the Cher-Ae Heights Casino and a few other small businesses in the area.