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Photograph of Grizzly Bluff School
Photograph by Ellin Beltz, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Grizzly Bluff School

Built in 1871. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 7 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1944.

From the record

“The Grizzly Bluff School was an historic school in the farm fields outside Ferndale, California. Students came from the surrounding Eel River valley to attend a one-room school earlier than the construction of the first known school building.”

Wikipedia article Grizzly Bluff School, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 52 National Register listings published here for Humboldt County · listed in 1979 · category: Building · built in 1871.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. E of Ferndale on Grizzly Bluff Rd, Ferndale, 95536
  • When was it listed? November 1979
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Ferndale
  • When was it built? 1871
  • National Register reference number. 79000476 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1944 to 1987

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 43 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Grizzly Bluff School, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet covering Grizzly Bluff School, surveyed 1944

Fires near this property

105 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 105 fires within 5 miles of Grizzly Bluff School between 1992 and 2020, burning about 104 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 10 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined34
Equipment and vehicle use27
Debris and open burning25
Arson/incendiarism10
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony1
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitPALMER
5 September 2011Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitLOOP
28 September 2013Arson/incendiarismunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitCEMETARY
27 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitFERNBRIDGE
27 September 1993Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitCHRIS
26 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitBEAR
22 September 2003Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitHYDESVILLE
20 September 2004Debris and open burning1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitCLARK

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Grizzly Bluff School: 10 producers, 2 prospects, 1 occurrence. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Volcanic Materials. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownVolcanic MaterialsOccurrence
Alton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Eel River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ell River Crushing PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fernbridge Gravel BarSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fortuna BarSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fortuna Ready Mix PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fortuna Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Hansen PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Mencer Fraser CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Maps showing this location

7 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Gushaw-Mudgett House2.6 miles1982
Fernbridge3.9 miles1987
Ferndale Public Library4.9 miles1990
Rectory, Catholic Church of the Assumption4.9 miles1982
Alford-Nielson House4.9 miles1986
Shaw House4.9 miles1984

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 79000476 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Humboldt CountyAll 52 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.