The Orick Peanut was a wooden sculpture located in the parking lot of the Shoreline Deli and Market on the south side of the town of Orick located in Humboldt County, California. It was created as part of a protest against the expansion of Redwood National Park (later Redwood National and State Parks) in 1978. [1] It is estimated to weigh 9 tons and is approximately 10 feet long and 6 feet tall. In June of 2023 it was struck by a car and irreparably destroyed. [2]
The Peanut was created by a group of people, including Glen Schirmann, a prominent figure in the local logging community. [3] It was carved with chainsaws from a large piece of old growth redwood. It was estimated to weigh 9 tons. [1]
The peanut shape is related to the fact that Jimmy Carter, the president at the time, was known as a former peanut farmer. The Orick Peanut was made as a mock gift for Jimmy Carter as part of a protest against his proposed expansion of the Redwood National Park, which was seen as an overstepping of federal power, a waste of money, and a move that would negatively impact the Redwood logging industry based communities in Humboldt County, like Orick.
The Orick Peanut, loaded onto a tractor trailer, led a procession of logging trucks from Humboldt County across the United States to Washington DC. [4] The Peanut was presented to President Jimmy Carter as a mock present, along with an attached sign that read "It might be Peanuts to you, But it's Jobs to Us". [4] The President's aides turned the Peanut away, and it was driven back, with the procession, back to Orick, where it resides today.
"Enough is Enough" Documentary created by the Associated California Loggers, 1977 [5]
The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park, one County park and two California state parks located in the United States along the coast of northern California. The combined RNSP contain Redwood National Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods County Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The parks' 139,000 acres (560 km2) preserve 45 percent of all remaining old-growth coast redwood forests.
College of the Redwoods (CR) is a public community college with its main campus south of Eureka, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and serves three counties. It has two branch campuses, as well as three additional sites. It is one of twelve community colleges in California that offer on-campus housing for students.
Bayside is an unincorporated community 2.25 miles (3.6 km) south-southeast of Arcata, at an elevation of 33 feet in Humboldt County, California. The ZIP Code is 95524, the area code is 707. The relatively large area was originally covered by large, ancient Coast Redwood trees down to what was the edge of a significantly larger Humboldt Bay at high tide. Later, the mammoth redwoods made it the natural placement of some of the area's earliest redwood lumber operations. A rock quarry was located in the area's hills, which form the beginning of the Coast Ranges, the source of water for an early public water system for the City of Arcata. Today, Bayside provides Arcata a buffer from Eureka's northward expansion along US Route 101 and the area, with the exception of some business and public buildings, is largely rural, with homes and small ranches dotting the landscape. Second growth forests exist mostly apart from cleared lands, which show some evidence of the extensive redwood forest that once existed in the form of large stumps. Some of the area's older Victorian era houses, are still present on the Old Arcata Road, the original main road connecting Arcata to Eureka. Jacoby Creek runs alongside a road of the same name from the hills in the direction of the Bay.
The Arcata and Mad River Railroad, founded in 1854, was the oldest working railroad in California. It operated on a unique narrow gauge until the 1940s when standard gauge rails were laid. Service ceased in 1983 due to landslides. It is California Historical Landmark #842.
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, and also commonly known as PL, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located 28 miles (45 km) south of Eureka and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisco. Begun in 1863, PALCO was managed over most of the twentieth century by generations of the Simon J. Murphy, Sr. Family or managers chosen by the Murphys from 1905 through 1985. Primary operations existed in massive log storage and milling operations at the historic company town of Scotia, California, located adjacent to US 101 along the Eel River. Secondary mills were located in nearby Fortuna and Carlotta. PALCO had extensive timber holdings exceeding well over 200,000 acres (890 km²) in the Redwood and Douglas-Fir forests of Humboldt County. For generations, it was one of the largest private employers in the entire region, appropriately known as the Redwood Empire.
Redwood Creek is a 61.8-mile (99.5 km) river in Humboldt County, California. The river's headwaters are in the Coast Range at about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) and it flows roughly northwest until it empties into the Pacific Ocean near the small town of Orick, the only development in the 280-square-mile (730 km2)-watershed.
Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood and giant sequoia trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights of notable areas with such forests.
Charles Kellogg was an American vaudeville performer who imitated bird songs, and later a campaigner for the protection of the redwood forests of California. He was born on a ranch in Susanville, California and grew up in the 1870s observing the animals and birds of the forests and learning outdoor skills. He constructed a mobile home, called the "Travel Log", out of a redwood tree and drove it around the country to raise awareness of the plight of the California forests. Its maximum speed was 18
Eureka High School or EHS, formerly Eureka Senior High School, is a public high school in Eureka, California. EHS is the only regular public high school serving the City of Eureka and all of its contiguous unincorporated neighborhoods, several adjacent unincorporated communities, and related independent elementary school districts, which, altogether, comprise the Eureka Unified High School District. Administrated as part of Eureka City Schools, it is the largest high school in Humboldt County.
Bucksport was a town in Humboldt County, California. The original location was 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of downtown Eureka, on Humboldt Bay about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of entrance. at an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m). Prior to American settlement a Wiyot village named Kucuwalik stood here.
Crannell is a former settlement in Humboldt County, California. It is located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Trinidad, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m).
Orick 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. The population was 357 at the 2010 census.
Reynolds Wayside Campground is a state park in Mendocino County, California, United States. The site, which contained a redwood grove, was purchased by Frank W. Reynolds and his wife in 1928 and converted into a resort known as Reynolds Redwood Flat in 1930. After Mr. Reynolds died in 1962, the site was leased until the California state government purchased it in 1966 as a memorial to Reynolds and to protect it from logging. Under state management, 50 campsites were constructed at the site, which was renamed to Reynolds State Recreation Area before taking its present name. In 1976, the campsites were removed, and the property was deemed surplus the next year. Much of the site's land was exchanged with a timber company for territory at Sinkyone Wilderness State Park in 1984. As of May 2021, Reynolds Wayside Campground contains 38 acres (15 ha) of land, including area for hiking and access to the Eel River.
Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 115.9 m (380.1 ft) in height and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living organisms on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha along much of coastal California and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States.
The Simpson Investment Company is a company based in McCleary, Washington in the US Pacific Northwest that specializes in manufacture of forest products. Founded as a logging company in 1890 by Sol Simpson, the company now functions as a holding company for the Simpson Door Company, a manufacturer of wood doors.
The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery near Orick, Humboldt County, California was one of the first small local fish hatcheries developed to improve the area's sport and commercial fishing, and is one of only three remaining hatcheries built in California from 1871 to 1946.
David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain was an environmental activist. He was killed by a falling tree in suspicious circumstances during a protest in California Redwood Forests against the Pacific Lumber Company.
Lost Man Creek Dam was a gravity dam used by the Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery in Humboldt County, California from 1936 to 1955.
The Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue is a monument located in Plains, Georgia, United States. Built in 1976, the roadside attraction depicts a large peanut with a big smile, and was built to support Jimmy Carter during the 1976 United States presidential election.
Freshwater Creek is a 23 kilometres (14 mi) long creek in Humboldt County, California that is a tributary of the Eureka Slough that in turn feeds Humboldt Bay. It flows into the south-east corner of the Arcata Bay sub-bay of Humboldt Bay. Its downstream reach is also known as Freshwater Slough and its upstream reach as Freshwater Gulch.