The rest of town is surrounded by the green tranquility of dairy farms, long a part of the local scene. The pioneer cemetery at the top left of the photograph and Ferndale Fairgrounds at bottom right are two more historic parts of town. A Eureka girl concisely recorded a piece of that history in 1903 with her diary entry that included Ferndale: “Up with the birds to go to the county fair. Arrived at noon.”

In the discovered diaries of young Cecilia Johnson, simple prose recorded her daily round back then – “Helped Mama with wash.” “Ironed 12 waistcoats today!” “Fred came calling.” Her record of the trip to the Ferndale county fair was brief, too, but between the lines, the words contain a turn-of-the-century North Coast. Hitch up the horses at dawn. Pack food for a whole day or two. Drive the wagon south down the dirt road through Bucksport, kids still wrapped up in blankets against the morning fog, maybe with a bit of sun peeking over Tompkins Hill. Rest a bit near Loleta, then somewhere near what would become Fernbridge, take a ferry or ford the Eel River. On the other side, lunch and the Ferndale county fair were only one more hour away!

A century later, the photo flight from Eureka Murray Field to Ferndale takes five minutes.

Photograph and article © Gary Todoroff 2005. All rights reserved. Telephone: 707 445-8425