EUREKA

eureka, a city, port of entry, and the county seat of humboldt county, california, u.s.a., on the e. shore of humboldt bay. pop. (1880) 2639; (1890) 4858; (1900) 7327 (2035 foreign-born); (1910) 11,845. it has a good harbour, greatly improved by the national government, and is connected with san francisco, portland and other coast ports by steamship lines. in 1909 a railway (the northwestern pacific), to connect eureka with san francisco, was under construction. the district owes its reputation as a health resort to its equable climate and to the protection afforded by the wide coast timber belt. eureka is the principal point for the shipment of redwood lumber, and saw-milling is carried on here on an enormous scale. several short railways run from eureka and arcata (pop. in 1900, 952) across the bay, into the forests, and bring lumber to the mills, most of which are in or near eureka. humboldt county was organized in 1853. eureka was then already the centre of an important lumber trade, principally in spars. it was incorporated in 1856, displacing union (now arcata) as the county-seat in the same year.