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.
Rebuilding a community from the ground up is not a challenge for the faint of heart, but Dan Johnson is not your average developer.
Johnson, president and CEO of the Arcata-based Danco Group, has numerous huge projects under his belt, including scores of subdivisions, single-family homes, commercial buildings and remodels. But it is affordable housing that Johnson is most passionate about, and in the past five years Danco has built more than 500 affordable housing units, 252 of which are in Humboldt County.
After more than 20 years in the business, Johnson — a lifetime resident of Humboldt County — said he is beginning to think about the legacy he will leave behind.
In 2002, for the bargain price of around $3 million, Johnson and the owners of the Sun Valley Group named their buying coalition The Samoa Pacific Group and purchased the small company-owned lumber town of Samoa from Simpson Timber Co.
The town came complete with 99 houses, a post office, the Samoa Cookhouse, a closed-down gas station, a gift shop and a few other buildings, including the Samoa Block. Also included in the purchase was a dilapidated sewer system where the old pipes leak more water than actually reaches the houses.
Johnson said the buyers of Simpson’s pulp mill didn’t want the town, “so when they put together an auction, Lane DeVries (CEO of Sun Valley Group floral company) and I got together and submitted a bid on it,” Johnson said. “It was not the highest proposal, but they wanted a buyer that was not going to come in and demolish all the houses. A Hollywood group was going to use the town to make Hollywood sets, but that wasn’t the most responsible offer.”
It has taken years of public meetings, engineering studies, and revised draft after revised draft of plans that encompass the original 150-acre purchase as well as later purchases totaling approximately 220 acres. Johnson now is hopeful that groundbreaking is within reach.
The master plan highlights include a remodel of the Samoa Cookhouse, a new Maritime Museum, the addition of a business park, a downtown commercial block, a remodeled post office, a gas station and a town square. New community facilities planned include an indoor soccer arena and public parks. Residential development includes 199 low-density units, 46 medium-density units and 133 recreational vehicle park units.
The environmental review process has been lengthy, but the master plan dedicates large parcels for open space and wetlands to mitigate development impacts. Danco representatives are planning to present their plan to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors in late summer of 2007, and the California Coastal Commission will hear a zoning amendment request in early 2008.
“I look at my three kids, and from a business perspective (Samoa) will clearly be a legacy that we will be able to leave behind. Technically we started this in 2001, so by the time we are done it will have taken nearly 28 years,” Johnson said with an incredulous chuckle.
He isn’t the only one anxious to see the plan progress. One of the most persuasive aspects of the plan to many Samoa residents is to finally have an opportunity to purchase the rentals in which they have been living. Eureka firefighter Nathan Baxley has lived in Samoa for seven years, and said that although he is excited about many aspects of the development, time is running out for him.
“I have big plans. I would like to buy two or three of those houses, and I have been waiting a long time,” he said.
Baxley came to Humboldt County in 2000 to go to school and ended up staying. Samoa was a particular draw for him because he is a surfer, and the peninsula is convenient spot to enjoy his sport but also because the town is a good place to raise a family.
“I don’t want to sound like I am 100 percent behind everything planned for Samoa, but I know that things need to change,” Baxley said. “It is my hope that the underlying intentions of The Samoa Pacific Group would be for the benefit of the community of Samoa and Humboldt County as a whole, because the place isn’t going to fix itself.”
Phyllis Rex has rented her 102-year-old home in Samoa for 30 years. Looking toward the future, she sees the Samoa development as a very positive move towards building a better community, and she is excited that The Samoa Pacific Group intends to preserve the integrity of many historical buildings. “It will be nice to have new things to do here, but I think it will be great to save the history of this town,” she said, explaining that many of the buildings are in need or restoration or repair.
