Orick, California
| Orick | |
|---|---|
| census-designated place | |
 Orick
|
|
| Coordinates: 41°17′12″N 124°03′35″W / 41.28667°N 124.05972°WCoordinates: 41°17′12″N 124°03′35″W / 41.28667°N 124.05972°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 California
|
| County | Humboldt County |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.850 sq mi (12.561 km2) |
| • Land | 4.746 sq mi (12.291 km2) |
| • Water | 0.104 sq mi (0.270 km2) 2.15% |
| Elevation | 26 ft (8 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 357 |
| • Density | 74/sq mi (28/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP Code | 95555 |
| Area code(s) | 707 |
| FIPS code | 06-54218 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 230092, 2611444 |
Orick (formerly, Arekw, Orekw, and Oreq, Yurok: 'O'rekw ) is a census-designated place situated on the banks of the Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, California. It is located 43 miles (69 km) north of Eureka, at an elevation of 26 feet (8 m). The population was 357 at the 2010 census.
Rare minerals orickite and coyoteite were discovered at Coyote Peak near Orick.
O'rekw means "mouth of the river" in Yurok. Orick evolved from the original word. The Yurok people had 74 known villages in the area, O'rekw was one of five where jumping dances were held. At times spelled Or'eQw, it is important to note that there is no "Q" in the living Yurok Peoples language alphabet.
Non-native settlers arrived with the gold rush, beginning in 1850 after the Josiah Gregg expedition discovered Humboldt Bay. Orick was settled not only for being on the way to mining claims in the Trinity, but for five beach sand mining claims fronting several miles of beach in the Gold Bluff District. The gold sands did not produce well, and the local gold rush was over by the 1870s.
The first post office at Orick opened in 1887.
The earliest wagons traveled along the beaches, but in 1894 the county - that time covering both the modern Humboldt and Del Norte counties - finished a wagon road between Eureka and Crescent City.
Lumbering removed the trees in and around Orick and dairy farmers utilized the flood plain. Until a bridge was built in 1903, Redwood Creek was always crossed by Swan's Ferry.
Robert Swan was a local rancher and businessman who owned the ferry and the local store, which was bought out by native Eurekan Elmer L. Devlin (August 1, 1877 - ?) who built the original Orick Inn. Devlin's first building burned down in 1918 and was rebuilt by 1922. It was known for home cooked food, as well as hosting fishermen and notables including opera singer Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, actors Fred MacMurray and Ronald Colman and President Herbert Hoover.
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