Rockport, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rockport
Former settlement
Rockport Location in California Show map of California Rockport Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	Mendocino County
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)

Rockport (once called Cotineva) is a place in Mendocino County, California, that used to be a town but isn't anymore. It's located about 7 miles (11.6 km) north of Westport, right by the ocean.

Rockport started as a special kind of town called a company town. This means a company owned most of the homes and stores, and most people living there worked for that company. Rockport's company was in the timber industry, cutting down redwood trees and turning them into lumber.

This area is seen as the southern end of the "Lost Coast." This is a wild, undeveloped part of California's coastline. Highway 1, which usually follows the coast, turns inland here. It then joins U.S. Route 101 at Leggett.

History of Rockport: A Lumber Town

Rockport's story began around 1877 when William R. Miller built the first sawmill here. Back then, the place was known as Cottoneva. This mill was quite advanced for its time. It could produce about 20,000 board feet of lumber every day. A board foot is a way to measure wood, like a piece 1 foot long, 1 foot wide, and 1 inch thick.

The Amazing Wire Bridge

One very unique thing about Rockport was a long wire suspension bridge. It was built in 1877 and stretched 270 feet (82 meters) across the water. This bridge connected the mainland to a small island in the ocean, sometimes called Pelican Island. Ships would come to this island to pick up the lumber. Trains would carry the milled wood across the bridge from the mainland to the ships. From there, the lumber would travel to places like San Francisco.

Changes and Challenges

Over the years, the sawmill and town changed hands many times.

• In 1886, Miller sold his mill to the Cottoneva Lumber Company.
• A fire destroyed that mill in 1900.
• Around 1907, a new company, New York and Pennsylvania Lumber, built another mill. But it also burned down in 1912.

Between 1924 and 1926, the Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company from Mississippi took over. They made the town more modern and built a new electric sawmill. They also built a logging railroad to help move the logs. However, they stopped operations in 1927.

The Rockport Redwood Company Era

After some financial troubles, a new company called Southern Redwood Company took over. Then, in 1938, the mill reopened as the Rockport Redwood Company. This company was led by Ralph Rounds. The railroad was taken apart in 1939.

Another fire hit the sawmill in September 1942, but it was rebuilt and reopened in July 1943. The rough lumber was then trucked to Fort Bragg, California, to be shipped by the California Western Railroad.

Life in Rockport Town

When its sawmill closed for good in 1957, Rockport was home to about 500 people. It had everything a small town needed:

• A company store where people could buy supplies.
• A community town hall used for dances, movies, and local plays.
• A company doctor to take care of everyone.
• Homes for the employees.

Rockport even had its own post office at different times.

The Rockport School

The town also had a grade school for students from first to sixth grade. The school building had three classrooms. Each room taught two grades at once. For example, first and second graders were in one room. Students in seventh grade and higher were bused to Ligget Valley High School. As of 1997, the old schoolhouse was the only building left standing in Rockport. All other homes and buildings had been removed many years before.

Later Owners

In 1967, the Georgia-Pacific Corporation bought the Rockport site. Later, in 1972, a new company called Louisiana-Pacific Corporation was formed, and they took over the Rockport property. Finally, in 1998, the Mendocino Redwood Company bought Rockport from Louisiana-Pacific.

Fire Protection in Rockport

The very first fire station for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (now known as CalFire) was located in Rockport. It started sometime in the mid-1920s. Its main job was to protect the valuable timber land owned by the Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company. The company paid the State of California for this service.

The fire station was closed in the late 1970s. Today, fire protection for the area still comes from fire engines based in Fort Bragg and Leggett.

Rockport Redwood Company Locomotives

The Rockport Redwood Company used special steam engines called Shay geared locomotives to move logs. Here are some of them: