History of the Mendocino Coast
Blessed with a congenial climate, plentiful natural resources, and outstanding natural beauty, the Mendocino Coast has drawn people to visit and live here for over 150 years. It all started when the clipper ship Frolic sank in 1849 near the present location of the Point Cabrillo Lightstation. Subsequent efforts to salvage the cargo were unsuccessful, but they exposed the great resource: redwood trees. News of the giant redwood trees led to the founding of the first lumber mill on the Mendocino Coast, right out on the Mendocino Headlands. The influx of people led to the founding of Mendocino at the mouth of Big River, as well as a mill and town at the mouth of every river large enough to transport logs.
Redwood lumber from Big River was used to build San Francisco in the time of the first Gold Rush, and then to rebuild it after the Great Earthquake and Fire in 1906.
As mills were built along the coast, towns sprang up to provide the needed services. As more people and money flowed into the region, more goods were delivered from San Francisco by ship. These ships would berth wherever they could, including offshore in Mendocino Bay. These berths required the use of ropes to move passengers and cargo between land and ship. Noyo Harbor is a fine natural harbor, so it became the home of a commercial fishing fleet.
Over the years, the lumber industry has declined. This led to an area-wide decline for many years, but the area was reinvigorated in the 1960s. An influx of creative people in the 1960s led to the creation of the Mendocino Art Center, which became the hub of a thriving artist community. This directly led to an influx of innkeepers, and now the Mendocino Coast is home to a thriving tourism industry.