Andersonia, California

Andersonia
Unincorporated community

Little remains of Andersonia at the confluence of Indian Creek and the South Fork Eel River.
Andersonia

Location in California

Coordinates: 39°58′41″N 123°48′26″W / 39.97806°N 123.80722°WCoordinates: 39°58′41″N 123°48′26″W / 39.97806°N 123.80722°W
Country United States
State California
County Mendocino County
Elevation[1] 541 ft (165 m)

Andersonia is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California.[1] It is located near U.S. Route 101[2] on the South Fork of the Eel River 1 mile (1.6 km) north-northwest of Piercy,[3] at an elevation of 541 feet (165 m).[1]

History

Bear Harbor and Eel River Railroad
Reporting mark ?
Locale Andersonia, California
Dates of operation 1893–1921
Track gauge ?
Headquarters Andersonia, California

A small wharf was completed at Bear Harbor in 1884 for loading of forest products from the Lost Coast. In 1893 construction commenced on the Bear Harbor and Eel River Railroad over the coastal ridge to connect Bear Harbor to South Fork Eel River tributary Indian Creek. The inland railway terminus was called Moody after Lew Moody constructed a hotel and saloon nearby. Southern Humboldt Lumber Company camp 10 sawmill was built in 1903, and the location was named Andersonia for company president Henry Neff Anderson. A log pond dam was constructed on Indian Creek where twenty million board feet (47,000 m3) of timber were stored in preparation for milling. Anderson was killed in a construction accident as a 17-mile (27 km) railway extension from Moody to Andersonia was being completed in 1905. Sawmill operation was delayed by litigation following Anderson's death. The railroad and sawmill were dismantled in 1921. Heavy rains during the winter of 1925-26 burst the dam; and the twenty-year-old Andersonia logs floated down the Eel River. Anderson's grandsons formed the Indian Creek Lumber Company in 1947 to build a new sawmill at Andersonia. Lumber was trucked out over U.S. Route 101 rather than rebuilding the railroad and wharf at Bear Harbor. The locomotives were preserved in 1962. The sawmill operated until local timber supplies were exhausted in 1972.[4] A post office operated at Andersonia from 1904 to 1906.[3]

Bear Harbor and Eel River Railroad Locomotives

Number Builder Type Date Works number Notes[5]
1 Marshutz and Cantrell 0-4-0 Tank locomotive 1892 purchased new; restored by the Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association at Fort Humboldt State Historic Park
2 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-4-2 Tank locomotive 1898 purchased new; preserved by the Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association at Fort Humboldt State Historic Park

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Andersonia, California
  2. ↑ DeLorme California Atlas & Gazateer (2008) Yarmouth, Maine p.47 ISBN 0-89933-383-4
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  4. ↑ Carranco, Lynwood (1982). Redwood Lumber Industry. Golden West Books. pp. 208–209. ISBN 0-87095-084-3.
  5. ↑ "Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association". Jeff Terry. Retrieved 2010-05-01.