History of Richardson Grove:
“Historic gateway to the north coast redwoods, these ancient giants have inspired people
for centuries.

Richardson Grove State Park— traditional
destination of countless vacationing families
since the early twentieth century — is one of
the north coast’s first redwood state parks.
Situated in the majestic redwood forests of
southern Humboldt County, “The Grove”
began in 1922 with 120 acres and has since
grown to approximately 2,000 acres with
support from Save the Redwoods League.
Located 200 miles north of San Francisco and
seven miles south of Garberville, the park is
bisected by U.S. Highway 101 and the South
Fork of the Eel River.

vISITOR CENTER
The visitor center in the 1930s Richardson
Grove Lodge — where families once watched
movies, ate ice cream, and danced under the
towering trees — offers interpretive displays
that encourage children to handle selected
natural items. The Grove Nature Trail begins
at the visitor center.

CULTURAL HISTORy
The first known inhabitants of this region,
the Sinkyone people, hunted, fished,
gathered food, and lived sustainably among
the Grove’s ancient redwoods, which they
considered sacred. These Athabascan speaking people trained their dogs to drive
game toward waiting hunters. Both men and
women were basket makers. Today’s Sinkyone
descendants maintain cultural and spiritual
ties to the Grove.
The first recorded non-native settler
in the area, Kentuckian Ruben Reed,
bought the land on the South Fork of Eel
River in the late 1860s. His brother and
their widowed father homesteaded 160 acres,
now part of the park. In the early 1900s, Henry
Devoy bought Reed’s land; Devoy leased the
redwood grove in 1920 to Edwin Freeman,
who built a store, a dining room, and cabins at
the site of today’s visitor center.

In 1922, the Save the Redwoods
League, concerned about the potential
destruction of the trees by highway
construction and logging, persuaded the
State to acquire 120 acres of the redwood
grove. Between 1922 and 1932, Freeman
operated the new park as a concession and
lobbied to name the park for Governor Friend
W. Richardson. The Richardson Grove Lodge,
which is now the visitor center, was built
between 1928 and 1930. In 1933, the Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) began building
campgrounds, picnic facilities, trails, water
systems, and restrooms in the main grove.
Periodic flooding of the Eel River,
particularly during the floods of 1955 and
1964, has damaged CCC-built facilities and
trees. In February 1986, the river again
overflowed its banks, destroying the campfire
center and picnic area. Later, new facilities
were built outside of the main grove. Today,
only the visitor center remains in the main
grove, lessening the human impact on its
fragile ecosystem.”

Source:
Richardson Grove California State Park Brochure

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