Bridgeville, California
{{Short description|Unincorporated community in California, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Bridgeville, California
|other_name =
|native_name =
|nickname =
|settlement_type =Unincorporated community
|image_skyline = Bridgeville CA Bridge.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption = Old Bridge over the Van Duzen River
|pushpin_map =California
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_mapsize =
|pushpin_map_caption =Location in California
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name =United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = California
|subdivision_type2 =County
|subdivision_name2 = Humboldt County
|subdivision_type3 =
|subdivision_name3 =
|
|established_title =
|established_date =
|coordinates = {{coord|40|28|10|N|123|47|59|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes = {{gnis|219830}}
|elevation_m =194
|elevation_ft =636
|footnotes =
}}
Bridgeville (formerly Robinsons Ferry and Bridgeport) is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located {{convert|12|mi|km|0}} north-northeast of Weott,{{California's Geographic Names|26}} at an elevation of 636 feet (194 m). Bridgeville is {{convert|260|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of San Francisco, with a population of about 25.
History
File:Salmon Brown's sheep ranch, two miles from Bridgeville, Humboldt County, California.jpg
Originally called Robinsons Crossing, it was renamed Bridgeport when a bridge was built across the Van Duzen River in 1875. The post office rejected Bridgeport as a name because of another Bridgeport (in Mono County), and the Bridgeville post office opened in 1877. Robinsons Crossing was named in honor of William Slaughter Robinson, a local rancher.
One of the first settlers was Salmon Brown, a Merino sheep farmer, son of John Brown the abolitionist. To rescue his mother Mary from hostility to Brown in Red Bluff, in 1870 he sold his ranch near Corning, California, and bought one near Bridgeville. Mary and her daughters moved nearby, to Rohnerville.{{cite news
|title=A much underrated piece of Red Bluff real estate
|newspaper=Red Bluff Tehama County Daily News (Red Bluff, California)
|date=21 Feb 1968
|page=9
|via=newspapers.com
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95491453/mary-browns-house-in-red-bluff/}} In 1893 he moved to Portland, Oregon.{{cite news
|title=John Brown's Widow Came to Red Bluff in 1864 (pt. 2 of 2)
|newspaper=Red Bluff Tehama County Daily News (Red Bluff, California)
|date=5 Dec 1929
|page=4
|via=newspapers.com
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95731819/john-browns-widow-in-red-bluff-pt-2/}}
The {{convert|83|acre|m2|adj=on}} town became famous in 2002 for being the first in history to be put up for auction on eBay. It was originally sold for $1.77m but the buyer backed out of the deal only for it to be bought by businessman Bruce Krall for $700,000.
Krall put the town up for sale again in 2006 for a starting price of $1.75m. According to the BBC News website, the price included three cows, eight houses, and a post office.
Los Angeles-based entertainment manager and college student Daniel Thomas La Paille, 25, purchased the town on August 3, 2006 from Krall. La Paille paid $1.25 million, the money coming from his own entertainment management work as well as from his mother and grandmother.
In an interview with the Times-Standard, La Paille said, "[Community] is very important in every aspect. We all have to live together. Bridgeville is going to be an example. We're going to ... show that we can be environmentally conscious, good neighbors and just create a special little community."{{Cite news |last=Greenson |first=Thadeus |url=https://www.times-standard.com/2007/06/30/bridgeville-on-the-market-again/ |title=Bridgeville on the market again |access-date=December 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229120558/https://www.times-standard.com/2007/06/30/bridgeville-on-the-market-again/ |archive-date=December 29, 2020 |url-status=live }}
According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, Daniel La Paille committed suicide on November 9, 2006. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chest.{{cite news |title=Bridgeville owner took his own life |url=https://www.times-standard.com/2006/12/08/bridgeville-owner-took-his-own-life/ |date=December 8, 2006 |newspaper=Times-Standard |access-date=December 29, 2020}}
On June 29, 2007, Bridgeville was on the market with a $1.3 million price tag for at least several months. This was the third time in five years that Bridgeville had been listed for sale.{{cite news |last=Nieves |first=Evelyn |title=Five Years, Two Owners and a Town Still in Limbo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/us/07sale.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117043944/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/us/07sale.html |archive-date=January 17, 2018 |date=July 7, 2007 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=December 29, 2020}}
In June 2013, Steve Farzam, the COO of the Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, California, entrepreneur, and serial fraudster, offered to purchase Bridgeville for $900,000 from Daniel La Paille's mother. Steve Farzam had his development team visit the town, where they met with the County Board of Supervisors. According to Humboldt County Supervisor Estelle Fennell, Farzam wanted to start his own police force in Bridgeville, for which he would need the approval of the county sheriff. According to one of Farzam's colleagues, Farzam said he would not buy the town if he was unable to start a police department. According to Fennell, the sheriff was adamant that there would be no changes to law enforcement in Bridgeville and the deal never materialized.{{cite magazine |last=Simpson |first=David Mark |title=Not Fuzz |url=https://magazine.atavist.com/not-fuzz-police-impersonator-santa-monica-steve-farzam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207122020/https://magazine.atavist.com/not-fuzz-police-impersonator-santa-monica-steve-farzam |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |date=July 2017 |magazine=The Atavist Magazine |access-date=December 29, 2020}}
Geography
The Van Duzen River flows through Bridgeville.
The ZIP Code is 95526.[http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp USPS look up tool] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903025217/http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp |date=September 3, 2007 }} The community is inside area code 707.
=Climate=
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above {{convert|71.6|F|sigfig=2}}. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Bridgeville has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=746340&cityname=Bridgeville%2C+California%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Bridgeville, California]
Education
Bridgeville is the seat of the Bridgeville Elementary School District,[http://www.humboldt.k12.ca.us/schdist/index.php Humboldt County Office of Education] and home of the Bridgeville School,[http://www.humboldt.k12.ca.us/bridgeville_sd/index.php Bridgeville School Board] a public K-8 school.
Politics
In the state legislature, Bridgeville is in {{Representative|casd|2|fmt=sdistrict}},{{Cite web |url=http://senate.ca.gov/senators |title=Senators |access-date=April 7, 2013 |publisher=State of California}} and {{Representative|caad|2|fmt=adistrict}}.{{Cite web |url=http://assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers |title=Members Assembly |access-date=April 7, 2013 |publisher=State of California}}
Federally, Bridgeville is in {{Representative|cacd|2|fmt=district}}.{{Cite GovTrack|CA|2|access-date=March 1, 2013}}
See also
- {{portal-inline|California}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{HABS |survey=CA-1456 |id=ca0173 |title=Bridgeville, General View, Bridgeville, Humboldt County, CA}}
{{Humboldt County, California}}
{{Eel River}}
{{commons category|Bridgeville, California}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Unincorporated communities in Humboldt County, California