Humboldt County CA Archives History - Books .....Port Kenyon 1890
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Book Title: History And Business Directory Of Humboldt County

PORT KENYON.

Is one of the flourishing and prosperous towns of the southern portion of
Huniboldt county. It is situated on Salt River, one of the most important
tributaries of Eel river, and is distant about six miles from the bar at the
mouth of the latter waterway. Steamers and sailing vessels can dock at the
wharves of Port Kenyon, as the streams are navigable for coasters up to this
point, and for small craft a few miles further up, The town was surveyed and
laid out by J. G. Kenyon, from whom it takes its name. The streets and
thoroughfares are from 60 to 80 feet in width, and 'the blocks are subdivided by
alley-ways 20 feet wide. The population is constantly on the increase, as the
town is the shipping point and center of trade for a very productive section of
the county. The harbor is safe from storms, and vessels can lie at the wharves
at any time of the year. The only difficulty is with the bar at the mouth of Eel
river, which at times vessels cannot cross, but this inconvenience occurs seldom
and lasts but a few hours.

    Amongst those who have taken advantage of Salt river as an unexcelled
locality for the situation of mills and manufactures is Mr. D. R. Roberts, who
built a large and substantial mill at Port Kenyon. It has a cutting capacity of
25,000 to 30,000 feet of lumber per day. The cut includes spruce, pine and
redwood, which finds a home market and is also shipped to San Francisco and
other points. Although it may be said that Port Kenyon is but in its infancy,
yet it can boast of an increasing and thriving business community. There are two
schools with an attendance of over one hundred scholars. At the west end of the
town are located the extensive wharves and warehouses of Messrs. Robarts Bros.,
to whom the progress made by the town is mainly due. These wharves and
warehouses have a storage capacity of 2,000 tons, besides an unlimited storage
space on the wharves and landing, for such commodities as lumber, shingles,
shakes, staves, bolts, etc. On the north bank of the river stand two more large
warehouses belonging to the same firm, having a storage room of about fifteen
hundred tons. These warehouses are of great convenience to shippers residing on
that side of the river.

    It is at these wharves that the staunch and fast steamer Newport (Edwards,
master), has her landings. She plies weekly between San Francisco and Port
Kenyon, leaving San Francisco every Wednesday and Port Kenyon every Saturday.
The steamer is owned by the P. C. S. S. Co. When Messrs. Robarts Bros, purchased
one-half the town site of Port Kenyon, they placed the Mary D. Hume on the route
above stated. It was thought by many to be an experiment, but the results have
more than proved the farsightedness and business ability of the Robarts Bros.,
for the venture has more than exceeded their most sanguine expectations and has
been of incalculable benefit to this section of the county. The Newport is a
staunch and comfortable steamer, in fact many prefer traveling by this route
than by any other.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History and Business Directory of

HUMBOLDT COUNTY
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE
NATURAL RESOURCES
DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE
PICTURESQUE SCENERY
BEAUTIFUL HOMES

THE ONLY COUNTY IN THE STATE CONTAINING NO CHINAMEN

LILLIE E. HAMM, PUBLISHER
(COPYRIGHTED)
EUREKA, CALA.
DAILY HUMBOLDT STANDARD 
NOVEMBER, 1890.


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