Old Garberville Explained

I ran across this old photo of Garberville. (below)I recognized it instantly and didn't think much of it, until it occurred to me that most of those buildings have been replaced. About the only thing that is the same is Bear Buttes in the background. The big long building near the center of the photo, on the right side of the road is Speed DeVee's garage. The rear of the building was Erwin Foltz's shop. The building was torn down to make way for what is now Ray's Food Place parking lot.

Just over the roof of Speeds garage, you can see the old Redwood Inn. The Redwood Inn was torn down to build Phase-1 of what is now Ray's.

On the far right of the photo you will see a white cone shape. The cone is actually a stone fireplace on the front of the presbyterian parsonage. Thefire place and the building that it is attached to are still there. They are on Maple Lane, just east of Radio Shack. The building just to the right of the parsonage is the old Wool Growers Association warehouse. That is where my shop is today. There was two buildings built this side of the warehouse, and it would not be visible in this photo today. Those two buildings are Radio Shack and the Gift Shack, our stores on Maple Lane.

Just to the left of the Wool Growers Association warehouse, and bordering Redwood Drive, is is a large concrete building that is the North Valley Bank. It is still there. Across the Redwood Drive and a little further away (long dark roof) is one of the oldest buildings in town. It was built as the Garberville Mercantile Company and it is now where Alsports is located.

The turn-off to Sprowel Creek Road can be seen between the two trees covering Redwood Drive near the center of town. If you look at the far side of town on the left of the photo, all of those houses were removed for the freeway to be built.

Starting on the far left of the photo, you will see a roof with a coupola on the top. That is a Chevron gas station. Wally and Ruth Nichols owned it. The two story building to the right of the gas station was Dinnell's Redwood Burl Factory and gift shop. Wally and Ruth sold the service station and bought the Burl Factory. Both were torn down to expand the Garberville Motel and build the Waterwheel Restaurant. The motel was owned by Ron Olson's folks. Ron Olsen now owns Southern Humboldt Building supply. Both Ruth Nichols and Elsie Olson (Ron's mom) still live here.

In the foreground is the White Motel. Motels were the modern rage back then. As you can see, all of the cabins are neat and tidy. All had kitchens and bathrooms with an attached garage for the smug people that could afford to own a car and travel. The row of cabins that extend to the right of the photo were on both sides of Melville Road. When I was a kid the motel was owned by Don Buxton. I went to school with his daughter Shirley. The Motel had a swimming pool then, and we had a few parties there. It was a nice place. It was torn down before it's time to make room for a Standard service station that last for a few years then was torn down. The lot is still empty. The cabins in the foreground remained for quite some time. KMUD was in them for a while. Anybody remember that?

At the top of the Motel, on redwood Drive is a “Flying A” service station. Just next to that on the far side the Garberville Groceteria was built, and it doesn't look like it was there yet. This photo was taken some time in the forties???

Whew! Questions?
 

The Photo's below are of Speed DeVee and Erwin foltz. I did a story previously and someone asked if I had any photo's. As I often do, I found some that I shamelessly swiped. I got these from the Garberville Fire Department.