History and Mission of the Timber Heritage Association

For many years history buffs in Humboldt County, especially those whose primary interest is in steam power, have been seeking a museum to tell the story of redwood logging. Through the efforts of such leaders as Dr. Stanwood Schmidt, the present logging display at Fort Humboldt was established in 1962.

Due to limited space at the Fort, however, the logging exhibit has not expanded, and opportunities to aquire additional artifacts have been lost. Meanwhile, funds to restore the Fort were allocated, and it became evident that the logging exhibit would at some future date need to be relocated to allow both the Fort and logging histories the individual focus they deserve.

Realizing these needs, in 1975 the seed of an idea began to germinate in the minds of Roger Frick, Bill Kohse, Bill Fahey and others to establish a full-size logging museum.

After much discussion, the first organizational meeting of what was to become the Timber Heritage Museum Association was held on January 10, 1977. The incorporation of the Association was recorded in the Secretary of State's office on May 16, 1977. In June of 2004 the name of the organization was changed to the Timber Heritage Association.

One of the first projects begun by the Association was the restoration to operating condition of a small "Dolbeer Type" steam donkey donated to the State Department of Parks and Recreation by the Lucchesi family in 1964.

The agreement was made that the State would provide the material, and the Association members would provide the labor to restore the donkey. Work was completed and the donkey was steamed up in the fall of 1975. The boiler was re-tubed in 1977. Since then, two small locomotives and several other pieces of equipment have been restored. A short section of track was built at Fort Humboldt so that train rides could be given at monthly Steam Ups during the summer.

NCLIA, now The Timber Heritage Association has, over the years, also been acquiring historic logging artifacts too large for the Fort Humboldt Logging Exhibit. These are stored at a leased site for eventual use at a larger timber technology museum. THA currently has over 240 members and a mailing list of 605. A newsletter, "The WhistlePunk," is published quarterly. THA is celebrating 28 years of preserving logging artifacts and interpreting logging history.

Our Mission

Although gold brought the first settlers to Humboldt Bay, timber quickly became the true wealth of Northern California. The men and women who founded the NCLIA/THA believe that the preservation of this history will tell a valuable story for generations to come and will benefit both local residents and tourists. For over 25 years, the Association has been saving historic pieces of timber technology, sometimes rescued from old mills and sometimes found abandoned deep in the woods, the Association now has a storage yard full of these pieces of history along with some that are on display at Fort Humboldt State Park.

For the past four years, in conjunction with the Railroad Support Coalition, and REACH (a local coalition of other non-profit cultural and museum groups), the Timber Heritage Association has been working toward the creation of a Tourist and Excursion Train around Humboldt Bay-not just for isolated holidays, but as an enduring attraction for visitors and residents. Studies already conducted show that such an attraction would have a positive impact, not only by bringing in more tourist dollars to the county, but by preserving an important part of Humboldt County history for local residents.

THA received a USDA Forest Service grant to do a feasability study for the Timber Heritage Museum. The City of Eureka, through a community development block grant funded a feasability study for the excursion train. With these two documents, the next steps are raising funds for both projects. The Timber Heritage Association hopes you will support us.

For further information or questions, please contact one of our THA Board members listed here on our website. All of us are excited about going forward to reach our goals; we are happy to provide you with information and to answer questions. Thank you in advance for your generous support of what we believe is a truly worthy cause.