Insider's Guide - Locals share their favorite places & activities in Humboldt County

Rio Dell

Just across the Eel River from Scotia, Rio Dell is a quiet and growing bedroom community.

In fact, the city just expanded its borders. This year the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, took the final step to approve the city’s request to annex the old Eel River Sawmills site north of the city, as well as some 50 acres on Blue Slide Road.

The annexation increases the city’s land mass by some 300 acres.

The town over the years has been the home to many Pacific Lumber Co. employees and their families. Town was settled in 1876 and had previously been called Eagle Prairie and Wildwood. The history of Wildwood is still celebrated, and got its name for being a party town for Scotia’s loggers and mill workers.

Today the annual Wildwood Days festival event honors the city’s former tawdry reputation for gambling, bootlegging and prostitution. Rio Dell is located 25 miles southeast of Eureka on U.S. Highway 101 and is six miles from the northern entrance of the Avenue of the Giants. The 31-mile trip through the towering redwoods is amazing display of the sheer size of the remaining old-growth giants. Rio Dell’s name mean “river in a small, secluded wooded valley.”

The city’s name literally means “River in a small, secluded wooded valley.” Rio Dell and Scotia are joined by a bridge over the river.




Rio Dell

STATISTICS
Population: 3,210
Settled: 1876, incorporated in 1965
Original names: Eagle Prairie, Wildwood

CITY GOVERNMENT
Mayor: Julie Woodall
Mayor Pro-tem: Melissa Marks
City Manager: Nancy Flemming
City Council: Mike Dunker, Melissa Marks, Julie Woodall, Marc Barsanti. Jack Thompson
The council meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month at City Hall.

CITY CONTACTS
City Hall
675 Wildwood Ave.
Rio Dell, CA 95562
764-3532
www.riodellcity.com

Chamber of Commerce
715 Wildwood Ave.
Rio Dell, CA 95562
764-3436
www.riodellscotiachamber.org

Library
715 Wildwood Ave.
764-3333

Police
675 Wildwood Ave.
764-5642

Fire
50 W. Center St.
764-3329

- Times Standard