Point Arena’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Point Arena. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The first European to record Point Arena was Spaniard Bartolomé Ferrer in 1543, who named it Cabo de Fortunas ("cape of fortunes"). The cape was renamed to Punta Delgado (narrow point) in 1775 by lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (commander of the schooner Sonora), part of a royal expedition chartered by the government of Mexico to map the north coast of Alta California. Later the point, and the small harbor town south of it, were called Barra de Arena (i.e. sandbar) and finally Punta Arena (literally "sand point").
The Punta Arena post office opened in 1858, and was renamed Point Arena in 1889. The first store at Point Arena opened in 1859. Point Arena incorporated in 1908.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Point Arena’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Point Arena’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewConveying Lumber to the Coast, in…, c. 1870: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Point Arena, decade by decade
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Conveying Lumber to the Coast, in a Flume, Point Arrina, Mendocino Co.Alternate Title: No. 1299 (c. 1870) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (4) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.