Point Arena, CA

Point Arena is a coastal city in Mendocino County where State Route 1 reaches Arena Cove and the Pacific headland. The 2020 census counted 460 residents. The Bokeya Pomo village of Pda'hau stood near the Garcia River before Spanish expeditions recorded the cape as Cabo de Fortuna. A wharf built in 1866 helped turn Point Arena into a redwood-lumber and agricultural shipping port, and the treacherous coast brought a lighthouse to the point. The current 115-foot tower dates from the rebuilding that followed the 1906 earthquake.

ATTRFrank Schulenburg / CC BY-SA 3.0

Point Arena's Main Street Historic Commercial District shows how the town changed with its economy. A 1927 fire destroyed most commercial buildings, and the 1927-28 rebuilding produced a concentrated group of Art Deco and Art Moderne storefronts, including buildings for gas stations and a movie theater as lumber mills and ranches declined. The school district includes Arena Elementary, Point Arena High, Pacific Community Charter, and the Arena Tech Center. Fishing, dairy and beef farming, agriculture, tourism, artists, concerts, the pier, and the lighthouse all appear on the current local map. The rebuilt commercial street ties those threads to the coast road.