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History · Samoa

Samoa’s post office opened in 1894, and 66% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1922 on.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
66%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Samoa’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Samoa began, and where its name came from

When was Samoa founded?

1894

The Samoa post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 229132 years

How did Samoa get its name?

It was assumed that its harbor was similar to the harbor of Pago Pago in American Samoa, and the town was consequentially named Samoa.

More on the name

It was originally known as Brownsville, named for James D.H. Brown, who was the owner of a dairy ranch established in 1859.

Founding year: the first Samoa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Samoa’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Samoa’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1972. Watch Samoa change.
★ What stands out · The story

How Samoa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Samoa.

Read it all →

Prior to private settlement of the area, the north spit at the entrance to Humboldt Bay was used by a series of federal government projects including the 1851 to 1892 Humboldt Harbor Light; in 1862, a prisoner of war camp for Native Americans captured in the Bald Hills War; the Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station in 1878; and the stonemason finishing yard and trans-shipment point for foundation stones for the St. George Reef Light from 1883 to 1891 at Paysonville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Samoa on the map, 1922 to 1972

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

Samoa on the 1922 USGS mapSamoa on the 1942 USGS mapSamoa on the 1958 USGS mapSamoa 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 Samoa.

Timeline

Samoa, 1894 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Samoa post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917In the archiveCoast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee Rescue
  5. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1942In the archiveHammond Lumber RR 1942
By decade

Samoa, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s5 items
Coast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee Rescue1917Coast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee RescueUSS H-3 1917 h358501917USS H-3 1917 h35850USS Milwaukee (C-21) stranded1917USS Milwaukee (C-21) strandedHammond Lumber RR 19421942Hammond Lumber RR 1942Hammond Lumber RR Trinidad Quad 19451945Hammond Lumber RR Trinidad Quad 1945
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Retreat at the Oyster Suite (Unsplash)2017Retreat at the Oyster Suite (Unsplash)Closed Mill2015Closed MillSamoa, CA 19422014Samoa, CA 1942Samoa California Skyline2014Samoa California SkylineCrimson Polaris Docked Eureka CA2014Crimson Polaris Docked Eureka CASamoa Lighthouse2012Samoa LighthouseHighway 2552010Highway 255
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Coast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee Rescue
Retake this viewCoast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee Rescue, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Samoa’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Samoa’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCoast Guard Surfboat USSMilwaukee Rescue: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Samoa’s history

What year was Samoa founded?

The Samoa post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, 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.