for
government, health care, trade, and the arts on the North Coast north of the
San Francisco Bay Area. Greater Eureka is the location of the largest deep
water port between San Francisco and Coos Bay, a stretch of about 500 miles
(800 km). The headquarters of both the Six Rivers National Forest and the
North Coast Redwoods District of the California State Parks System are in
Eureka. As entrepĂ´t for hundreds of lumber mills that once existed in the area,
the city played a leading role in the historic West Coast lumber trade. The
entire city is a state historic landmark, which has hundreds of significant
Victorian homes, including the nationally recognized Carson Mansion, and the
city has retained its original 19th century commercial core as a nationally
recognized Old Town Historic District. Eureka is home to California's oldest
zoo, the Sequoia Park Zoo