Fort Dick, California
| Fort Dick, California | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Location in Del Norte County and the state of California |
|
| Coordinates: 41°52′04″N 124°08′56″W / 41.86778°N 124.14889°WCoordinates: 41°52′04″N 124°08′56″W / 41.86778°N 124.14889°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Del Norte |
| Government | |
| • Senate | Doug LaMalfa (R) |
| • Assembly | Patty Berg (D) |
| • U.S. Congress | Jared Huffman (D) |
| Elevation | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 978 |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP codes | 95538 (homes - 95531) |
| Area code(s) | 707 |
| GNIS feature ID | 223696 |
Fort Dick (formerly Newburg) is a small unincorporated community in rural Del Norte County, California. Fort Dick is around five miles (eight kilometers) north of Crescent City, California, and around 15 mi (24 km) south of the California–Oregon state line. It is located on the U.S. Route 101 corridor on the Redwood Coast. A post office was set up in 1917.
Fort Dick Landing dates back to the Civil War era and was named after a settler's log house "fort" built by whites to defend from the Indians. In 1888 a shake and shingle mill was moved there and the place renamed Newburg by the Bertsch brothers who owned the mill. With the establishment of the post office in 1896, the old name was revived.
The heavily forested coast territory surrounding Fort Dick was occupied and used by the Tolowa and Yurok tribes of Native Americans.
Historical records state that a party travelling with Jedediah Smith entered the area of Fort Dick and skirted the eastern edge of Lake Earl between June 14 to 16, 1828. During this time, not only did they explore the area, but they made clear contact, including trading and engaging in commerce with the Tolowa Indians on the 15th. Jedidiah Smith's party "skirted" the eastern shore of Lake Earl. Since his party was there in 1828, it predates the events that led the settler or farmer who owned the land called "Russell's Prairie" (later Fort Dick) by about twenty-five to thirty years.
"On June 14 the company pushed up the beach until they struck a 'low neck of land running into the sea where there was plenty of clover and grass for our horses' and camped. The trappers, during the day's march, had been compelled to take to the sea for several hundred yards at a time, 'the swells some times would be as high as the horses backs.' The company remained on the south bank of Elk Creek on the 15th, while several hunters went out. One of them killed a buck elk, 'weighing 695 lbs., neat weight.' A number of Tolowa came in, bringing fish, clams, strawberries, and camas roots, which were purchased.
The company rode out early on the 16th. Striking to the north northwest, they crossed a neck of land skirting the ocean. Considerable difficulty was encountered in getting the horses across Elk Creek, and they were compelled 'to make a pen on the bank to force them across.' The Mountain Men on the 16th camped on the wooded flats south of Lake Earl. Skirting the eastern margin of Lake Earl, the trappers camped three nights in Section 27, between the lake and Kings Valley."
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