More pictures: Helmke store 1 and 2, Fort Seward Depot, Fort Seward Hotel 1, 2 and 3, Fort Seward School, Trinity Lumber Company and the suspension bridge.
Fort Seward was established by Captain Charles Lovell on September 26, 1861. The Military Fort was named after William H. Seward, President Lincoln's Secretary of State. The Fort was put here to give protection for the settlers and ranchers over the Indian uprisings. The troops remained for one year then the Fort was abandoned. The Fort was closed because it was too hard to get supplies up the Eel River because of the really strong rapids.
In 1910, Fort Seward was put up for sale by Frank K. Mott Of Oakland. The ad to sell the land was said that Fort Seward was destined to become the second largest city in Humbolt County. The land developers were subdividing 22,000 acres of orchard, farming and grazing lands lying along 15 miles of the Eel River. The average price of timberland was twenty five dollars per acre, and the average price of grazing land was fifteen dollars an acre. This information was taken from an ad in " The Californian," in the December 24, 1910 Edition, published in Eureka, California.
In the early 1900's, the instant the Northwestern Pacific sent its engineers to survey a route north of Willits, that entire country began to increase in value. Especially was the case with the townsite and land surrounding Fort Seward which the Northwestern Pacific engineers reported as the most avalible townsite, centrally located as it is, in the heart of the fruit district between Eureka and Willits. The Northwestern Pacific surveyors quickly saw the value of the land and acquired ten acres for a depot, warehouse, freight sheds, cattle corrals and side tracks. With the completion of the railroad to Fort Seward in May,1914, the N.W.P. Railroad offers travelers a chance to go overland to San Fransisco for twenty dollars. An overnight stop is made at Fort Seward, where passengers stayed at the Hotel Fort Resort.
The fort and hotel are no longer in existence, Fort Seward is now a private cattle ranch.
By Caroline, Matt, Joey, Tami and Jean