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The first airplane to reach Humboldt County, came in over the bar on a ship. It was a French built biplane, the Flying Bird, which was to be piloted July 4, 1910, by Frank Free. It was removed from its crate and made ready for the big day at Eureka’s South Park on Broadway.

With 5,000 Humboldters on hand to watch the aviator get the machine airborne, the aircraft failed to cooperate. The first mishap was a broken axle. When this was mended the propeller blades broke. Disillusioned flight fans went home that day believing little in flying machines.

The next year another airplane came in over the bar on the steamer Iaqua. It was accompanied by a well-known, experienced pilot, Eugene Ely, a pioneer of flight. He was scheduled to fly his craft on May 27 and 28, 1911, in recognition of Aviation Day. This was Ely’s demonstration of his pusher-type (propeller rear of the pilot) aircraft, and the type he would use to become famous that year by flying from a makeshift flight deck on the U.S. battleship Pennsylvania, and thus accomplish the world’s first carrier take-off.

Ely in Humboldt. Photo: Freeman Art Company.

In Humboldt County, Ely had the aircraft rolled off the laqua onto the dock at Fairhaven, and he and four mechanics conditioned it for several demonstration flights at New Era Park, on the bay side of the north peninsula. Eli admitted the ocean voyage caused him to arrive as a seasick passenger.

This time the airplane flights were successful and aviation enthusiasts were not disappointed even though early fogs caused cancellation of late afternoon flights.

The first airplanes to fly into the county arrived in a field near the old Lafayette School in Eureka in 1918. The World War I surplus Curtis JN4 “Jennies” were part of a trial flight to see if an airmail route could be established into Humboldt County.

After the three planes departed, Dayton Murray, who had been a flight instructor in World War I, bought his own Jenny and used the same field for pioneer air work. He later moved his planes to today’s small airport on Highway 101 just north of Eureka.

The first airplane constructed in Northern California was the monoplane built by Blaine Selvage, a mechanic at the Pacific Garage. He was also the pilot of this homemade aircraft which soared aloft in early November 1909. His first flight of less than a mile took one and a half minutes. It was near a place called Woods’ Resort on the Old Arcata Road. It flew well but the wheels buckled on the first flight.

Selvage was considered an inventor and soon had several patents pending. He used a 40-horse-power engine of four cylinders which he made himself. He devised a new system of lubrication in the Selvage engine which helped to prevent overheating. His steering and balancing devices were said to be far superior to others being used.

He was besieged by offers to put on exhibitions elsewhere. Selvage left Eureka with his plane on the steamer Elder, bound for San Francisco and Los Angeles. He was accompanied by Dave Jackson. After participating in contests they planned to return to Eureka to engage in the manufacture of their airplane engine.

Selvage continued flying after leaving Eureka. He carried passengers in his private flying service, working out of Santa Rosa. He also was employed there as a building contractor. He continued building planes and watched the development of airplanes until his death on July 4, 1967.

According to long-time county flight observer Dave Zebo, construction on the site of today’s Eureka-Arcata Airport began in 1941 and was accomplished by the U.S. Navy for $6 million. When completed in wartime 1942, it was used to train Navy pilots and to do experiments in fog dispersal. At the time it was considered the third-foggiest airport in the world.

It was first known as Auxiliary Naval Air Station — Alameda. Wildcat fighters and Hellcat dive bombers came in during the war to target practice in the Big Lagoon area, north of Eureka.

Following the war, in 1946, the field’s name was changed to Landing Aids Experiment Station (LAES) and was under contract to the U.S. Bureau of Aeronautics and Transocean Airlines for experiments using the slope line, strobe lighting and Project Fog Intensity Dispersal Of (FIDO) equipment.

Congress continued supplying funds until 1950 at which time the airport was given to Humboldt County and renamed Arcata Airport. The Humboldt County Department of Aviation was created at the time with Zebo as aviation administrator. In 1956 the name was changed again. This time it was called Arcata-Eureka Air Terminal. The next year the Department of Aviation was transferred to the Humboldt County Department of Public Works.

When the Federal Aviation Agency suggested “remoting” the airport (handling air traffic control from a distant center) early in 1964, Zebo presented it with a fact-filled report underlining the necessity for keeping it intact. He noted this was the only airport on the coast between San Francisco and Canada with a 6,000-foot runway plus facilities necessary to service aircraft. He felt that it would be a great aid during emergencies and he was soon to be proved right.

Eight months later the airport was in full swing with landings and takeoffs (one a minute during daylight hours). Disastrous floods had hit all of Northern California. All other modes of transportation had come to a complete standstill. Roads and railroads were out and the sea was filled with logs and lumber for a distance of five miles. As helicopters went on rescue missions, airplanes brought in much-needed medicines and supplies. The airport was the salvation of the county.

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The piece above was printed in the January-February 1986 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.