Eureka rooming houses closed amid red-light ban
Humboldt County’s redwood lumber foreign export business was booming in late 1921, with a slew of orders placed for December of that year and into January 1922.
According to the Nov. 18, 1921 Humboldt Times newspaper, the U.S. steamer Hollywood was busy loading 2 million feet of redwood for delivery to Australia from ports in Eureka, Samoa, Arcata and Fields Landing.
Another steamer, the British vessel Peebles, was due in Eureka on Dec. 5 to take on 800,000 feet of lumber, also for Australian delivery. That ship was going to be followed within a few days by another yet-unnamed craft, which was going to be loading 500,000 feet of redwood, also heading to the Land Down Under.
Additional orders for more than 300,000 feet of clear redwood timber were also on the books — heading to Japan — in January 1922, the newspaper said.
“Although Japan is not a new market for redwood lumber,” the Humboldt Times said, “there have been no orders from there for seven or eight months and the present total … for shipment during the next two months is taken as a good indication of the reopening of the markets.”
Lots more local news filled the pages of the Humboldt Times 100 years ago this week. Here’s a sampling:
On Nov. 19, 1921, the newspaper reported that Eureka would be getting a producing motion picture studio in the near future. Paul Gerson of Paul Gerson Pictures Corp. in San Francisco, and A. H. Sebastian, the company’s general manager, were in town, touring Humboldt County as a new film venue with W. L. Miller, secretary of the local chamber of commerce, as their guide.
“Humboldt County is a virgin paradise, a perfect treasure trove for the moving picture producer,” said Gerson in making his announcement of a “definite decision to erect a producing studio (in Eureka.”
He also told the newspaper that a series of outdoor adventure pictures would be filmed in the area, “emphasizing to the world the natural beauties of the
county.”
On Nov. 20, 1921, the Humboldt Times announced the surprise wedding of Ruthven Redmond and Dorothy Buhne, both members of local pioneer families. The ceremony, attended by immediate family members, was held at the Buhne home at 1113 C St. in Eureka and was officiated by the Rev. W. D. Ogg.
The newspaper noted that the new Mrs. Redmond was an accomplished musician and the only daughter of Esther Buhne and the late H. H. Buhne. The groom was the son of Marian Redmond and the late Sheriff Robert Redmond.
On Nov. 21, 1921, there were several different films showing at Eureka theaters, according to the Humboldt Times. “The Fox,” dubbed “the first super Western ever produced,” was showing at the Rialto Theatre. The silent film starred Harry Carey and Gertrude Claire. General admission was 15 cents.
Also showing in town on that day was “The Sheik” at the State Theatre. The George Melfordproduced film starred Agnes Ayres and Rudolph Valentino. Frank Mayo topped the bill in “The Blazing Trail,” a romantic tale showing at the Orpheus Theatre.
The Nov. 22, 1921 Humboldt Times reported the death of Carl August Schultz, a pioneer resident of Arcata, at the age of 72. Schultz, who moved to Eureka in 1892 before relocating to Arcata, was employed by businessman A. Brizard. He was survived by his wife, four daughters, two stepdaughters and one son.
That same paper announced the death of C. C. Dickson, a Humboldt County pioneer who’d recently moved to Berkeley. Dickson moved to the North Coast in 1866, settling in the Eel River Valley where he became one of the first people to engage in dairying, the newspaper said. Later, he and his son, Walter, owned and operated the White House furniture and appliance store in Eureka. He was survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.
The Nov. 23, 1921 newspaper reported that legal proceedings had been instituted by District Attorney A. W. Hill to close three local rooming houses in Eureka under the “red-light ban.”
One of the rooming houses in question was located above the Mercantile Café at 233 Second St. and was owned by May Taylor and leased by “Helen Doe,” the Humboldt Times said.
A second rooming house was located on Third Street in the rear of the Bank of Eureka building, with E. O. Pluke named as owner and “Jane Doe” as the leasee. Details were not given about the third establishment.
“The prosecution claims that all three of the houses have been used as scenes for gross immorality and have been carefully investigated before action was instituted,” the paper said.
The Nov. 24, 1921 Humboldt Times reported yet another death of a longtime local resident. Alexander Coeur, who owned the Freshwater Store for 30 years, died of heart disease the day before. He was a native of France and was about 70 years old when he died. He was survived by his wife, Nellie, and four children, Harold, Ernest and Mrs. Charles Lambert, all of Freshwater, and Mrs. Ernest Steeves of Oakland.