2. Location, History and Economy

Crescent City, named after its crescent-shaped beach, is located in Del Norte County in northern California, approximately 20 miles south of the California/Oregon border and 350 miles north of San Francisco. The city encompasses 1.8 square miles of land. As of 2018, the population of Crescent City was 6,800. Crescent City is the county seat and the only incorporated area in Del Norte County. Crescent City is surrounded by redwood forest, in close proximity to state and national parks and recreational opportunities. The city is located on the coast between the Smith River to the north and the Klamath River to the south.

Crescent City occupies the ancestral homeland of the Tolowa Dee-ni’, a Federally recognized Nation. After almost two centuries of genocide and colonization, the current Tolowa Dee-ni’ population sits at 1600 citizens, roughly 15% of their pre-colonization total. Fishing is an important subsistence practice of the Tolowa Dee-ni’.

Crescent City emerged in the 1850s during the Gold Rush as the main port of entry and supply center for Northern California. At that time, agriculture, lumber, and fishing were the chief economic sectors. In the 1860s, a cannery was established near the mouth of the Smith River and the river was a popular destination for sport fisherman targeting salmon.

In the late 1800s, commercial logging was the largest manufacturing industry in the Western US and was the most lucrative industry in the county. In the 1870s the first sawmill in Del Norte County was built in Crescent City. Into the 1950s, lumber and logging was the largest employment sector in Del Norte County, with 55 mills in operation. However, it was also in the mid 1900s that concern over the environmental impact of logging spurred land conservation efforts and the timber industry soon went into decline (Source).

Following World War II, technological advancements resulted in the expansion of commercial fishing all along the West Coast. In Crescent City, the role of commercial fishing was cemented in 1950 with the construction of Citizens Dock, the city’s hub for commercial fishing activity. By the late 1950s, Crescent City had four resident commercial fish companies and a number of fishery-support businesses and was the site of substantial recreational and commercial fishing activity. Fishing vessels were moored in the lee of Whaler’s Island, and most of the commercial fish offloading activities occurred at Citizens Dock.

In 1964, Crescent City experienced the largest tsunami to ever occur in the US after an earthquake struck Anchorage, Alaska. The tsunami resulted in the death of 11 people, devastated homes and businesses in the downtown corridor, and destroyed Citizens Dock. The city soon rebuilt the dock and repaired the harbor. The rebuilt boat basin opened in 1968, and the development of associated harbor infrastructure including offloading docks, fish processing and boat-building facilities continued into the 1970s. Receiving and processing capacity also expanded with the construction of two large seafood processing plants, funded by the federal government and donations from more than 130 individuals and local businesses.

These and other infrastructure improvements led to a substantial influx of fishers into the area, mitigating the economic impacts of the sharp decline in the local timber industry. By 1975, the harbor’s 300 berths were fully occupied by permanent tenants and there was a substantial waiting list. At that time, the resident commercial fishing fleet consisted of 100 to 120 boats, with a growing number of transient vessels also using the harbor. In 1981, over 1,000 boats, many from Eureka and other ports to the south and some from Oregon, made landings at Crescent City (Source).

However, by the mid 1980s, the decline of salmon stocks led to stringent fisheries management measures throughout the West Coast. These measures had profound impacts on commercial and recreational fishing activity in Crescent City, which have played out over the decades since then. In 1989, Pelican Bay State Prison, a maximum-security facility, opened in Crescent City. The prison was an economic boon to the city and is a significant employer in both the city and county (Source).

In 2011, five years after a smaller tsunami struck Crescent City, a tsunami again severely damaged the harbor (with no loss of life). The harbor has since been rebuilt, at a cost of $50 million, with structural reinforcements designed to resist a 50-year tsunami event (Source).