LINKS:
Additional local and national links are here.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
National source for presevartion information.

HPRT Blog
Blog maintained by the Historic Preservation and Restoration Technology Club at College of the Redwoods.

The Survey Process

This survey of Eureka's rich architectural heritage — the culmination of twelve years of work by volunteers , concerned citizens, architectural historians, and preservation specialists — began with a visit to Eureka by Robertson Collins, a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Bill Murtagh, Keeper of the National Register.   While Eureka had long been known for its colorful architecture, these men felt that a formal survey of our city's built environment would clarify Eureka's place in the architectural history of the West and help to preserve our city's unique past.  Such a survey, it was felt, could also become a useful tool for future city planning efforts.
        This idea was presented to Mayor Gibert Trood, who set up a steering committee for the survey with Dr. Walter Dolfini as chairman.  Community interest in the survey proved widespread, and the Eureka Heritage Society was formally established a year later in 1973, with Dr. Dolfini serving as its first president.  Meanwhile, the Western Regional Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, under the leadership of John Frisbee, presented a workshop in Eureka on surveying techniques, fund raising, local ordinances, and preservation law.
        After this workshop, a few dedicated volunteers began the arduous task of surveying Eureka's architecture.  In order to avoid overlooking any significant property, it was decided that the entire city should be photographed building by building — some 10,000 structures in all.  Milton Phegley, then a student at Humboldt State University, cheerfully volunteered for this difficult job.  At the same time, an army of volunteers went out to canvass the city, checking on addresses and gathering pertinent information on the structures that had been photographed.  The position of Survey Coordinator was established to oversee these efforts, and funding for the project came from two "Heritage Fairs" presented in consecutive years by the Eureka Heritage Society.
        The Society agreed that qualified outside evaluators who could view our city with a fresh eye, should review the results of our survey.  To the end, the Society retained the services of Mrs. G. Bland Platt, then the president of the San Francisco Landmarks Commission; Charles Hall Page, a San Francisco urban planner specializing in preservation; and John Beach, a noted architectural historian.
        This team of evaluators reviewed or survey results over a period of several weeks.  They began by looking at all the photographs and grading the buildings.  Those that were clearly outstanding or questionable were retained in one group for additional study; the rest were filed away separately.  All of the outstanding and questionable buildings were visited by the evaluators for further on-site review, some 1,500, were then ready to be researched.  The criteria used by the evaluators throughout this review process were those of the National Register.  In this way, after research was complete, these structures would be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
        The goals of the research were to establish a construction date for each structure, to identify the original owner and his or her place in Eureka society, and to discover — insofar as possible — the identity of the architect who designed that structure.  Enthusiastic student volunteers worked for two summers on this research effort.  First, a title search was conducted on every structure.  Then all of Eureka's old newspapers — the city has had eighteen newspapers to date — were culled for information on new construction.  Finally, researchers consulted city directories, old telephone books, the Susie Baker Fountain papers, early Sanborn insurance maps, old utility records, and most importantly, the old assessor records at Humboldt State University in order to establish the dates of construction or improvements.
        When we had organized the results of our research, our project evaluators again reviewed the assembled information, regraded, and wrote short architectural descriptions of significant structures.  At this point, the survey was entrusted to the Society's Book Committee which worked with Architectural Resources Group, a San Francisco architecture firm specializing in historic preservation.  They brought their expertise to the task of editing and organizing our information for publication and handling the design and production of this volume.
       This book, we hope, will stand as a testimony to the uncommonly rich architectural heritage of our city, as well as to the dedication, enthusiasm, and talent of all those who contributed to its realization.  Moreover, the entire Eureka survey will be placed on microfilm in our area libraries, where it will be available for consultation and further research by generations of Eurekans to come.

Dolores Vellutini
Eureka Survey Coordinator
1987