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History · Fairhaven

31% of Fairhaven’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1922 on.

0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Fairhaven’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fairhaven are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fairhaven’s homes were built before 1952.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1972. Watch Fairhaven change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairhaven’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairhaven’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Fairhaven, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairhaven yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Fairhaven (formerly Rolph) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. It is located 2.25 miles (3.6 km) west-southwest of downtown Eureka, at an elevation of 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level. As of the 2020 census, Fairhaven had a population of 165. In 1867, Hans Ditlev Bendixsen opened a ship building yard in Fairhaven. Bendixsen built many vessels for the lumber trade. Bendixsen constructed 92 sailing vessels between 1869 and 1901, including 35 three-masters. These included the C.A. Thayer which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The Rolph post office operated…

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the map

Fairhaven on the map, 1922 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairhaven. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fairhaven on the 1922 USGS mapFairhaven on the 1942 USGS mapFairhaven on the 1958 USGS mapFairhaven on the 1972 USGS map1922Eureka sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairhaven.

Timeline

Fairhaven, 1918 to 1922

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1918Post officeThe Rolph post office opens
  3. 1921Post officeThe Rolph post office closes
  4. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Fairhaven

Nobody well known was born in Fairhaven itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
S
Sara BareillesAmerican recording artist; pop rock singer-song… · b. 1979
M
Mike PattonAmerican singer · b. 1968
Steve CochranAmerican actor · b. 1917
Trevor DunnAmerican bassist · b. 1968
Frank FergusonAmerican actor · b. 1899
K
Kevin StillAmerican rower · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Rolph, opened and closed inside today’s town.

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Fairhaven’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.