Fortuna’s earliest settlers started fishing, farming, and raising livestock in the fertile Eel River Valley in the early 1800’s. Not long after, the Springville Mill and the Newburg Lumber Company set up shop in Springville, what Fortuna was first known as. The lumber industry was the start of the town and its primary industry. Fortuna was powered with electricity earlier than most small towns (1883) as it was a boon to the saw mill. 

Springville was renamed to Fortuna in 1888, when the residents selected the name which was Latin for fortune. Everyone who lived here felt so fortunate to live within the beauty of the redwood forest, near the Pacific ocean, the lush valley and spectacular rivers. In the years following the renaming to Fortuna, the completion of a rail line from San Francisco to Eureka boosted Fortuna’s growth, opening it to commerce and a steady stream of loggers, who found good paying jobs and a safe place for their families to live.  The city was incorporated in 1906.

Many of Fortuna’s early industries continue to define the city, as fishing, farming, and lumber are still mainstays for the community. Now, the city of Fortuna is one of the fastest growing incorporated areas in Humboldt County. It provides a diversity of goods, entertainment, health care, banking, community facilities, and professional services, and combines a moderate climate with a rural lifestyle for those looking to settle down.

Today, there are approximately 12,000 residents living in Fortuna.  We are proud stewards of the vast redwoods forests that surround us.  We hope you will feel as humbled as we do to stand in front of giant trees that were here when the Roman Empire was at its height.