I’ve been wanting to do this for years. Today was the day.  Christopher drove me around town, up and down the residential streets and through the Old Town downtown.  I sat in the front passenger seat with the window down while Andy was squeezed into the pickup truck back seat. Most of the time, Christopher stopped (or, at least, paused) for me to take pictures of some of the Eureka architecture. There are so many interesting homes and other building in this town.  It is an old town, founded here due to the natural port of Humboldt Bay, fishing, redwood logging, and the gold rush. There are 1,500 buildings which qualify for the National Register of Historic Places.  While other cities have modernized, Eureka has maintained many of those old buildings in excellent condition. Wikipedia has a thorough write-up on this small city.

I took over 200 photos today and present them here in no particular order other than having the commercial buildings first and then the houses. I took a cross-section of large, small, fancy, run-down or immaculate houses.  Even many of the smallest houses have some interesting architectural features.  Oh, so charming.

This is the Eureka Inn, built in 1922, the year the Pacific Highway was built connecting Eureka to San Francisco.

The Eureka movie theater was built in built in 1937 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Here is the ticket booth. I can’t think of a word for that open space in front of old movie theaters.  This one is grand.

The library is next door.

Here are some storefronts in the historic old town district.

The Carson mansion is probably the most famous house in town, built by lumber baron William Carson in 1886. It is now a private club.  Christopher and Cordelia said they have attended a wedding there.

This pink lady was given to Carson’s son as a wedding present.  It is right across the street from Dad and Mom.

They don’t have to be large to be fabulous.

I took two pictures of this house.

The side view.

I love the windows on the side, apparently running up a staircase.

This one desperately needs a paint job.

 

I think someone got carried away with the pain colors here.  I like it!  But, my understanding of the Victorian painted ladies is that they are three colors:  primary, secondary, and tertiary. This one is a riot of exuberance.

I think I’ll make this tour again in the future and see what else is in town.