Book Signing

James R. Garrison’s lively and informative history of Rio Dell and Scotia offers a rare pictorial glimpse into some of the more out-of-the-way parts of Humboldt County. The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series, the book features vintage images, many of which have never been published, and showcases memories of days gone by. Scotia and Rio Dell developed side by side, forming a larger community to support the needs of local settlers and industry. Yet while their histories are inseparably intertwined, each town developed its own distinct character. Scotia, constructed by the Pacific Lumber Company in the 1880s, stands as a pristine example of the once-prevalent company town in America. The small farming community of Rio Dell flourished along with its sister city and grew to accommodate the needs of an expanding workforce in Humboldt’s redwood lumber industry. Where Scotia was orderly and tightly controlled by Pacific Lumber Co. management, Rio Dell developed a reputation for its remote setting, rowdy lumbermen, and bootlegged whiskey. James R. Garrison, forty-four, is a native of Humboldt County, who grew up in Rio Dell and attended schools in Rio Dell and Fortuna. He has a BA in history from Humboldt State, where he researched the settlement period of Humboldt County. For more information please contact the Humboldt County Historical Society at 445-4342, or visit http://www.humboldthistory.org/