Fort Humboldt State Historic Park, Military heritage site in Eureka, United States.

Fort Humboldt State Historic Park preserves the site of the U.S. Army post established in 1853 on a bluff above Humboldt Bay. At its peak the fort had 14 crude plank buildings around a central parade ground, including two barracks, officers' quarters, a hospital, bakery, guardhouse and blacksmith's shop. The park also displays logging equipment, a working steam donkey engine, trains and a Native American dugout canoe.

Fort Humboldt was established on January 30, 1853, by the U.S. Army under Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan of the 4th Infantry Regiment, as a buffer between Native Americans, gold-seekers and settlers after gold was found on the Trinity River in 1849. It served as a supply depot for posts such as Fort Gaston and Fort Bragg, and its troops were drawn into the Red Cap War. The Army post was staffed until 1870, and Captain Ulysses S. Grant served there as quartermaster for five months in 1854.

The park displays tell the story of how European American soldiers and Native American people encountered each other during the Gold Rush era. The objects and buildings shown reveal the tensions and daily realities of that time.

The park provides walking paths through the grounds, picnic tables, restrooms, and an on-site bookstore with educational materials. Wear comfortable shoes since exploring the hilltop site involves walking among several scattered buildings and outdoor displays.

The park holds a collection of steam-powered machinery and locomotives from the 1800s that reveal how logging shaped Northern California's industrial past. These machines offer a direct look at the technology that drove forest harvesting in that era.