The “Introduction To Architectural Styles” Discovery Walk
based on the walking tour in “Eureka: a guide to the architecture and landscape,” by Hal Jackson and Ted Loring.

	Click here to jump to style descriptions                                              Click here to return to the Discovery Walks page	Click on the pictures to see full size images of each building.
1	Eureka Inn, a Tudor Revival built in 1922. Click here to go to the Eureka Inn's website. Click on the picture to see full size pictures of the Inn.
2	NW corner of 7th & F, the Morris Graves Museum is a classic Greek Revival, originally built as a Carnegie Library in 1902, and features a pedimented doorway flanked by ionic columns which are repeated in the  pilasters at the corners of the building. Note the dentils under the eaves and pediment.  Home of the Humboldt Arts Council, and additional information is available at the HAC web page.
3	F between 6th & 7th, the Eureka Theater, an especially fine example of 1930’s style “Streamline Moderne” with curved marquee, horizontal lines, and round windows, common elements of this style.  From the theater, walk north (toward the waterfront) on F street.
4	SE Corner of 5th & F, is a Victorian revival commercial building, recently renovated. The first floor façade is new; the upper floors are original. Continue north on F
	NE Corner of 5th and F: This building wasn't listed in the original tour. I took a picture because it's such an attractive building. "Arthur Johnson's" fine clothing for men occupied this building from 1933 to 1995. It was recently renovated and now houses "Plaza Design" interior furnishings and home decor.  Do you have any other info about the building itself?  Send an email to ruthful at northcoast dot com
5	Corner 4th & F, distinctive for what you don't see. This was once Eureka’s Chinatown. After the death of a local merchant in the early 1800’s by a stray gunshot, all Chinese were expelled from Eureka and Humboldt County, and there is no trace of Chinese influence today.
6	Corner 3rd & F, known as the "Carson Block," now housing the Discovery Museum on the ground floor corner., is Queen Anne with distinctive curved corner towers and long high arched “Palladian” windows. The entire ground floor facade is new. Why is the corner turret only on the top? It looks cut off, was it? Continue north on F
7	Opera Alley, between 3rd & 2nd, On the brick buildings to the west, look for the iron shutters, including a pair of round ones, on the windows.
8	SE Corner 2nd & F, brick building housing shops is noted for its fine iron columns. Look for the circular supports to the sides of the doors which were originally for display cases
9	NW Corner 2nd & F, the Old Town Gazebo replaced an entire block of rundown commercial buildings in one of the first of many of Eureka’s attempts at urban renewal. The Gazebo is now a central space for fairs, festivals, farmer's market, and other events.                                                    Back to top of this page
10	NE Corner 1st & F, 109 F street, is a classic example of Eastlake or “stick” style applied to a commercial building. Charles Eastlake was a furniture designer who wanted his furniture to show off the wood used. Eastlake buildings thus show off wood as wood and the decorative woodwork looks like “sticks” applied in geometric style
11	SW Corner 1st & F, Waterfront Café, is another Eastlake. Note the brackets on the corner of the entry, they are similar to those used on the Carson Mansion. Cross 1st street to the north or waterfront side and take a left turn to walk south down 1st
12	This building, that used to be the Humboldt Maritime Museum and now is a blacksmith’s shop, was a warehouse that architecturally has a little of everything. While this building has not been moved, it was at one time at the edge of the water! Ships used to unload their stone ballast nearby and eventually filled it in
13	Although there is a stop #13 on the Jackson-Loring map, the Cogshell Ferry building has since been demolished, and the approximate space is now occupied by the Boardwalk. Look across, or walk across 1st street, to view stop #14
14	422 1st street, the “E. Janssen Building” has cast iron pillars at the front with cast marks reading “City Iron Works, San Francisco, 1875.” Cast iron became popular after the big SF fire. Proceed south on 1st
15	1st between B, C, D & E, The large green corrugated steel building you see standing alone is the last exisitng warehouse of many that have been demolished. This building is of interest for several reasons. It was intentionally not built true to square; it's actually a parallelogram, so it looks skewed or crooked. It was built to fit between two railroad tracks.
16	Foot of C street, Madaket dock. The Madaket is the last surviving of a fleet of small ships that ferried workers and people between Eureka and Samoa. A fisherman's "working dock" and visitor-tourist "viewing area" and a continuation of the Boardwalk is currently under construction. Proceed inland up C street.
17	Corner 2nd & C, the Eagle House is a Queen Anne built in 1888, notable for its tower and curved glass bay windows. The building to the west of the Eagle House is half of an Eastlake that was originally directly on the corner, but was cut apart from the remaining building to the north of the Eagle House, and moved to its current location to make room for the hotel. Walk east on 2nd toward the Carson Mansion
18	2nd street between D & E, Romano Gabriel sculpture garden. See the Art & Murals Discovery Walk for more info. Back to top of this page
19	Corner 2nd & E, looking north you can see the Carson Mansion, stop # 32. 2nd street was the main artery of the town at the time the mansion was built. J. Carson had two houses moved so that he could build his mansion on that specific site, with a view that commanded the town as it was at the time. Looking south to 3rd & E (or stroll by if you're inclined) is the Clark Historical Museum, formerly the Bank of American building.
20	Block between E & F, mixed architectural styles, most are Eastlake with 412 2nd being a good example
21	NE Corner 2nd & F, across from the Gazebo, you passed this building earlier, but can view it better from here. “French Second Empire” style has a wedding cake, or layered  look. Columns are different on each layer. Proceed up 2nd
22	N side of 2nd, notice the “Pearl.” Look behind the façade, you can see it was originally a wood structure, possibly Eastlake, then it was stuccoed over in a Mission Revival attempt, and finally “succumbed to the stainless steel, glass block, round window craze of the 1930s Streamline Moderne,” (qtd from Jackson & Loring) and recently remodeled somewhat in keeping with that style. Next to it is a tiny, stucco, original Spanish Colonial Revival.
23	Vance Hotel, corner 2nd & G, built in the 1860s as a two storey building, with cupola tower on the corner, which was removed when the additional storeys were added in the 1920s. The lower portion is Italianate, with round headed windows, “quoining” and “rustication.”
24	715 2nd Street, two half houses joined together; the right half is older, with elements of Greek Revival, look for the six-over-six windows on the side. It’s been “renovated” many times, does it still have a transom over the door and “lights” (narrow windows) on the sides?
25	728 2nd, and others on 2nd in this block are classic examples of the California Bungalow, modest, one-storey, most from the 20s. Look for tapered porch columns, low gables facing the street, often a large porch, with porch roof lines matching the house
26	803 2nd, a four-over-four with an Italianate porch - It seems this building is no longer there? Anyone know what happened to it?
27	822-826 2nd, another double house                                                                      Back to top of this page
28	934 2nd, this is a newer house built in the Victorian style. You can see immediately that it doesn’t quite look right. It looks like the top floor is missing
29	1006 2nd, this house was designed by the famous Newsome Brothers architects of San Francisco. It was moved to this location less that twenty years ago
30	Directly across the street from 1006 is the site of the old Carson Mill
31	East of 1006, and set back from the street, is a classic, clapboard sided Greek Revival with lights around the door and a modest bargeboard
32	2nd & M, Carson Mansion, built to impress in 1884-1886, this Newsome Brothers house has a little bit of everything but is overall a Queen Anne. It is now a private club and does not give tours. There is no official website, but the Eureka Heritage Society has put up this page about the mansion. Most people think the “Pink Lady” built for Carson, Jr., across the street is prettier, and it is more of a classic Queen Anne style, with corner tower, segmented windows, and patterned shingles
33	The large, square white building on the NW corner was built about the same time as the two Carson houses and served as the Carson business headquarters. Turn around and walk away from the bay toward 3rd street and turn right on 3rd
34	SW corner 3rd & M, these two modest Greek Revival houses are possibly Eureka’s oldest, dating from the 1850s. They were moved here to clear the site for the Carson Mansion. The dormers are a much later addition. Proceed south on 3rd
35	NW corner 3rd & L, the Carter House B&B is a newer replica of an 1884 Newsom house in San Francisco. It was initially painted in dark brown, greens, and black to match the historical accuracy of the original building, but was so gloomy looking the owners finally relented and now it's a cheery yellow. A brief profile of the house's history is given by the owners at their Carter House Inn website HERE.
36	900 block of 3rd street has a row of attractive and classic Queen Annes. Look for patterned shingles and segmented windows. Corner houses have the old blue enamel street signs which are original. The tower on 917 is newer but in the style
37	835-837 3rd, more Queen Anne styles                                                        Back to top of this page
38	816 3rd a Cape Cod 1½ storey house, note the two central chimneys
39	813 3rd, a Greek Revival, notice the lights to the side of the door
40	805 3rd, a Queen Anne with a Colonial Revival porch, round window, segmented windows, and a Mission Revival top on the dormer
41	711 3rd, a nice Italianate style house with heavy turned supports for the porch canopy, round headed windows on the 2nd floor
	END OF TOUR
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STYLE DESCRIPTIONS

Style affects the outward appearance. Form is the structure or layout, not discussed here. Styles and identifying elements are listed below. Addresses for houses that are examples of each style, but that are not on this tour, are listed after the style description. Dates given for each style indicate the approximate dates that style was  in common use in the West. Dates for style usage in the Eastern states will be 5-20 years earlier.
 
Gothic Revival through Queen Anne are classed as the “Victorian” styles.
 
Greek Revival: 1840-1860, modeled after the Parthenon, features include gable facing the street, triangular porch roof, split pillars, pilasters, or “fake” columns at corners; lights and transoms, or windows at the sides and top of the front door; return cornices, or ledges at the eave corners, and six-over-six windows, if original the glass will be wavy. Doors and windows are usually symmetrically placed. 1214 California; church at Del Norte and F built in 1931 but true to the style; NW corner 8^th & M.
 
Gothic Revival: 1850-1870, first of the “Victorian” styles, with very few in Humboldt County. Easily recognized by their steep pitched roofs with ornate “bargeboards” carved or pierced decorative panels that hang down from the roof. Windows are pointed arches, siding is board-and-batten. 6^th & H, St. Bernard’s Church
 
Italianate: 1860-1885; inspired by Italian farmhouses. Full rounded columns or columnettes at windows and doors; windows tall, narrow, often round headed; bay windows are angled; roofs less pitched, often hipped; eaves and porch roofs have heavy brackets; siding “rusticated” or scored to look like brick or stone block; with “quoins” at corners, where the wood is made to look like stone corner bracing. 1213 G; 1224 F
 
French Second Empire: 1870-1885; inspired by Napoleon III’s reign and the New Louvre in Paris; mansard roof, dormers, symmetrical form, layered or wedding cake effect, often with each floor decorated slightly differently. 933 I street
 
Stick or Eastlake: 1870-1885; these two styles are usually blended together in Humboldt County houses and is a rejection of the classicism of the previous styles, a “back to nature” movement in architecture. Features a wood on wood appearance, with “sticks” or decorative pieces of molding used in a natural or geometric pattern; spindles, knobs, and other furniture inspired shapes; square bays, towers, and windows; spindle decoration at the gables; windows and eaves usually have small square or incised panels underneath. 1801-1807 California; 233 Hillsdale
 
Queen Anne: 1880-1900; inspired by the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, the culmination of the Victorian styles, it incorporates many elements of previous styles. Projecting gables fronting the street; colonnaded front porches; round or octagonal towers with onion or witch’s hat shape; patterned shingles, often several styles, Palladian or composite windows and/or eyebrow windows. 2338 California; 2436 E; 220 & 252 Hillsdale; 295 Hillsdale has an eyebrow window
 
Mission Revival: 1895-1915; flat tiled roof, stucco, “Mission bell” façade; arches, balconies, a very simple style with little ornamentation, often copied in wood for commercial buildings. 2235 A; 2204 & 2240 D; 1317 H
 
Craftsman: 1910-1930; another “back to nature” expression; rough wooden beams projecting out under and obviously supporting the eaves and roof; wooden horizontal trellis over the porch or to the side of the house; this style is most often applied in the California bungalow form of house. 1117 & 1123 A, 1424 California, 2434 E; 1740 I street
 
Spanish Colonial Revival: 1920-1940; similar to the earlier Mission Revival but uses more red tile, more roof exposure to view the tile, greater ornamentation, stucco often is more textured; often larger, even two storey, and more complex with arches and turrets. Windows larger and often feature wood spindle work. NE corner of E and Long street; 523 9^th; church on I between 14^th & 15th
 
Streamline Moderne: 1930s; everything is flat and streamlined and horizontal; round windows; linear, horizontal ornamentation; glass blocks or bricks; rounded corners. Flat roof, flat ironwork. 2400 H at H & Buhne.

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Last Updated:  January 4th, 2006