Humboldt County’s first residents hailed from the Yurok, Karuk, Wiyot, Chilula, Whilkut and Hupa tribes, among others. They settled on the coast and along the banks of the Trinity and Klamath rivers. The county was created in May 1853 and derives its name from Humboldt Bay, which was “discovered” by a sea otter hunting party in 1806 and rediscovered in 1849. Douglas Ottinger and Hans Buhne entered the bay in 1850 and named it in honor of naturalist and explorer Baron Alexander von Humboldt.
Del Norte County has been home to the Yurok and Tolowa peoples for thousands of years. Legendary explorer Jedediah Smith is credited with being the first non-native to enter the region, in 1828. Gold strikes on the Klamath and Smith Rivers in the 1850s led to the settlement of the county, which was created in March 1857. Its name, meaning “the north,” is derived from its position in the northwest corner of the state.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY
Historically Humboldt County’s major industries included lumber, agriculture, fishing and tourism. But declines in harvestable natural resources has taken a toll and dwindled those jobs from being the backbone of the local economy to a large industry sector.
Those natural resources have made Humboldt County a primary tourist destination, especially the worldwide fame of the giant redwood trees. Popular sites include Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Richardson Grove State Park, Six Rivers National Forest, King Range National Conservation Area and Redwoods National Park.
Slowly the county has shifted its reliance on its natural resources and is working to diversify its economic base. Unfortunately, many of those smaller employers have been unable to match resource job wage scales. Today, government, manufacturing, services and hospitality jobs are the largest employers in the county.
According to Dennis Mullins, who tracks and tabulates employment data for the Employment Development Department for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, government jobs include positions for local cities, the county, all public education, jails, police, government administered health programs and tribal administration. Throughout the North Coast region, tribes and rancherias provide approximately 2,500 casino jobs.
It is estimated that government, services and retail trade will experience the largest growth in the next few years, accounting for almost 90 percent of the total projected growth in employment.
Despite the loss of jobs caused by the decline in resource-based industries, the increase in the service-based sectors has helped labor market conditions steadily improve in Humboldt County. Total employment continues to grow and the unemployment rate has steadily declined.
From an annual average of 6.5 percent in 2004, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in April 2007. This trend is expected to continue. In the past year Humboldt County has experienced only small percentage changes in unemployment rates outside of regular seasonal fluctuations.
The county’s unemployment rate usually peaks in January and then steadily declines, usually hitting its lowest point in late summer before it begins to climb again to the annual mid-winter high. This trend has been observed for at least the last 13 years and is in part attributable to seasonal weather changes that have an impact on tourism and outdoor occupations such as logging, fishing and construction.
The state Employment Development Department reported the labor force at the end of April 2007 in Humboldt County to be 61,000 people. The approximate numbers of people employed in representative industries in Humboldt County include:
- Construction — 2,400
- Retail/Wholesale/Transportation/ Utilities — 9,700
- Government — 14,600
- Educational/Health Services — 6,100
- Leisure/Hospitality — 5,000
- Farm production — 1,400
- Lumber/wood products — 1,700
- Financial/Insurance/Real Estate — 2,000
- Manufacturing — 3,300
The largest employers in Humboldt County include: county of Humboldt, Humboldt State University, St. Joseph Health System, Eureka City Schools, College of the Redwoods, The Sun Valley Group, Green Diamond Resource Co., Mad River Hospital, Pacific Lumber Co. and the U.S. Postal Service.
The 2000 census reports the median household income in Humboldt County as $30,426, with an average household size of 2.3 persons. Women-owned firms account for 32.7 percent of all companies in the county, and minority-owned firms account for 4.2 percent of the total.
DEL NORTE COUNTY
Del Norte County’s historical dependence on natural resources is similar to its Humboldt County neighbor. The economic diversification process, however, has been slower.
Faced with continuing declines in the economy, the county brought in Pelican Bay State Prison in 1990, a super-maximum-security facility that now accounts for about 1,400 jobs. In 2006, Del Norte prison jobs accounted for approximately 18 percent of total county employment.
Covering some 270 acres, the annexation of the prison into Crescent City increased the city’s population sufficiently for it to be eligible for a number of grants. Government is the predominant industry, accounting for more than 46 percent of the total employment in the county. Government jobs excluding the prison make up 28 percent of the total county workforce.
Combined, the retail trade, transportation, leisure/hospitality and other service industries account for another 26 percent of total employment in Del Norte County, supporting the strong tourism and recreation sector of the local economy. Private education and health industry jobs make up around 13 percent of the workforce.
The largest growth in the next few years is projected to be in services, tourism, retail trade, transportation, government and public utilities. It is estimated they will account for the vast majority of jobs in 2006 and beyond.
With their natural beauty and magnificent trees, Del Norte County’s parks share with Humboldt County the distinction of being primary tourist destinations in Northern California. Redwood National Park stretches from the northern part of Humboldt into the southern part of Del Norte, and the drive up U.S. Highway 101 becomes a seamless transition from one county into another, from one beautiful park into another.
Popular destinations in Del Norte County include Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and the Smith River National Scenic Byway (Highway 199 from Crescent City to the Oregon Border).
Despite fluctuations in the labor force, recent economic conditions in Del Norte County have supported job growth in non-farm industries, and the trend is expected to continue.
Although higher than the state’s average, Del Norte’s annual average unemployment rate of 8.3 percent in 2004 was down from the 8.8 percent average annual rate of 2003. In April 2007, the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent up from an April 2006 figure of 6.7 percent.
The state Employment Development Department reported the labor force in April 2007 in Del Norte County at 11,130. The approximate numbers of people employed in representative industries in Del Norte County include:
- Natural Resources/Timber/Mining/Construction — 230
- Retail/Wholesale/Transportation/Utilities — 1,250
- Government — 3,820
- Educational/Health Services — 1,150
- Leisure/Hospitality — 850
- Farm production — 430
- Manufacturing — 160
Major employers in Del Norte County include Pelican Bay State Prison, County of Del Norte, Del Norte Unified School District, Sutter Coast Hospital, Crescent City Convalescent Hospital, Lucky 7 Casino and Elk Valley Casino.
For Del Norte County, the 2000 census reports the median household income as $29,044 with an average household size of 2.6 persons. Women-owned firms account for 23.3 percent of the total companies in the county, and minority-owned firms account for less than 1 percent.