Welcome to Ferndale

p>Ferndale (Pop: 1350) is located near the Lost Coast and Towering Redwoods, about 10 miles south of Eureka.

Ferndale is known for well-preserved Victorian buildings, which are also known as "Butterfat Palaces" due to their construction during an epoch wherein considerable wealth was generated in the dairy industry, especially during the 1880s. The entire town is an historical landmark (see California Historical Landmark No. 883).

This settlment was founded when S.L. Shaw built his first hotel here in 1860.

Ferndale Victorian Inn
Hotel, Restaurant, Fine Jewelers
Location: Ocean St and Main St;
Innhouse Website
This excellent example of Victorian architecture was built in 1891 as the Russ-Williams Bank. Facilities includes a millinary store, a haberdashery and the Ferndale Enterprise newspaper on the ground floor, and business and professional offices on the upper floor. Today it operates as a bed & breakfast inn, restaurant and fine jewelers.

Ferndale is also the endpoint of the annual Kinetic sculpture race as well as being the town where the first race began when Hobart Brown was challenged to race his odd-looking five-wheeled bike down Main Street on Mother's Day, 1969 by local sculptor Jack Mays.

The Humboldt County Fair is held every August at the county fairgrounds on the edge of Ferndale, and feature the only horse-racing events in the county along with the standard fare of agricultural, pastoral and artistic contests, carnival games and commercial or non-profit booths.