Table Bluff (California)
Table Bluff (Wiyot: "Giloulh") is a semi-flat terrace in Humboldt County, California, that terminates above the ocean in a dramatic, high cliff with views of the Eel River delta, the South Spit of Humboldt Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. It separates Humboldt Bay to the north from the Eel River to the south. It overlooks approximately 9,000 acres (36 km²) of wildlands administered by various federal and county agencies. It is south of Eureka and west of US Highway 101. Table Bluff County Park provides access to the South Spit. The park is also used as  a hang-gliding and paragliding staging area. The federally endangered western lily, Lilium occidentale, is found growing on Table Bluff at Table Bluff Ecological Reserve. History. Early explorers of the bay called the landform Ridge Point and Brannan Bluff, but by 1851 Table Bluff had stuck. Seth Kinman was an early resident. Because of its rich soil, Table Bluff has been the site of a small agricultural community since the 1850s. At present, hay fields and cattle ranches occupy most of the bluff. A reservation of the native Wiyot tribe is also located here. Table Bluff Rancheria was established in  1908. It originally comprised donated by a local church. An additional were purchased for the tribe by the federal government in 1981 as the result of a lawsuit settlement. In 1892, a lighthouse was built on the bluff to replace an older one on the North Spit. A fog horn and a Navy wireless telegraphy (later radio) station were in place by 1915 at what eventually became a Coast Guard facility at the point of the bluff. The lighthouse was abandoned in 1972 after automated beacons were installed at the Humboldt Bay entrance. Its entire tower was moved to Woodley  Island, across from the Eureka waterfront, in 1987. In 1970, the Coast Guard cited Seaman Robert Mark for "extraordinary heroism" while serving as crew of CG-44234, for rescuing the operator of the fishing vessel "Alice," which sank just west of Table Bluff. The California Coastal Conservancy began the process of acquiring of this property in 2005.