Blue Ox Millworks and Historic Village — Local services in Eureka

Definitely different. Certainly not regimented. Amazing that such a place still exists. Vast collection of bygone era tools and processes. Its a very very low key vibe here. There was nobody working on anything during the mid day summer weekday of my visit. The entrance to the old building had a lot of character- the floor had a pronounced downward lean towards the ground where gravity was winning the battle of time. We arrived at the front desk where Eric- the proprietor and "star" of the Magnolia TV series met us. He's a pleasant man and certainly looks the part. He asked us to pay $15 ea for the experience. Ok, but I had booked online where it cost me $30 ea and the option to pay just $15 ea in person was not mentioned. Hmmm. Our booking was described online as a "fully guided tour". Eric walked us into the next room where the "tour" began. Note that you have to be aware, careful and fairly nimble to safely get around this place. It is certainly not tidy or well maintained. It all looks like the real action here essentially ended many many years ago. Amazing cobwebs...far better than Disney or any old Vincent Price movie. Eric demonstrated a small gathering of a few old human-powered machines by cutting some kindling-sized chunks of wood. I was impressed at how well these devices worked. This all took about 20 minutes after which Eric gestured towards the rest of the facility and told us to go head and look around on our own...no "guided tour"was offered. We carefully wandered around several rooms which contained such things as old printing equipment, weaving looms, and various antique items. All were covered in thick dust and clearly were seldom used if ever used. Everything was in disarray. After a bit of this wandering, Eric happened by and directed us outdoors to the "antique village", outside. The "antique village" looks like its heyday was several decades ago and everyone has long since left. It is very run down and really needs a lot of help before it just fades away. Its basically a semi-organized junkyard. The ghost town of Bodie, Ca is in FAR better shape. If you like this sort of stuff, you should tour it soon because the whole place looks like a giant bonfire just waiting for a tiny spark to sadly and quickly be erased forever...hopefully without YOU trapped in it. Frankly, I'm extremely surprised that City of Eureka and/or the State of California allows the public to enter such a place with so many flagrant safety and fire hazards. If this place has insurance, they had better take a real hard look at their liability. I'd wager that it has no insurance. I don't want to sound negative here- Eric seems to be a good guy and I really enjoy tours of antique factories, sites, etc...its my thing. It is vital to future generations that such be preserved. But this place is doing it all wrong, at least at this point of time. It may have been really good 20-30 years ago, but that heyday looks way over now. Nevertheless, I did enjoy seeing it. But not for $30 a head...no way! A $5 donation would be more...

I was visiting my brother in Eureka last month, and we toured the Blue Ox Millworks and Historic Village. What an amazing place!

The village is a collection of buildings relocated from other areas, and they are dedicated to types of craftsmanship. There are SO many areas in the buildings to explore! They have woodworking, ceramics, glassworks, printing, signage, weaving, blacksmithing, and other crafts. The crew even built a replica of the hearse that carried Lincoln’s coffin for the memorial trip from DC to Springfield, 150 years later. They also hand-crafted a redwood table for President Clinton's Presidential Library.

Because the buildings are working sites, visitors must be careful as they walk through each area. Thankfully, all the walkways are of sturdy recent construction--even the catwalk on the second floor of the main building. Tours are led by knowledgeable guides, and visitors may have the opportunity to see craftsmen at work; on our visit, there was a gentleman working on a sign for a local ballpark. He stopped what he was doing and talked through the process of converting an artist's sketch to a finished, billboard-sized sign. It was fascinating to see!

The grounds are lovely and have views of Humboldt Bay from the top of the rise. There are gardens planted in various sites around the village, and it is very pretty in the spring.

For a unique experience of immersion into craftworks, I definitely recommend a visit to...

I always had an appreciation of Victorian restoration and reproduction work, but little did I know that most of it stemmed from Eric's handywork. Blue Ox is hands down a must-visit for those who love history and wood arts.

Eric and Vivianna were some of the warmest hosts during our self-guided tour. Their workshop was beautiful.. the sheer amount of historical value and the multitude of tools in Eric's collection was incredible. The workshop sections, from the lave room to fiber arts, ceramics, blacksmithing, their printing press area-it's just a craftspersons dream.

Honestly the best part of the trip was talking to them. I helped them out with some of their tech while my girlfriend babysat their grandchild (she readily volunteered as he was too cute) and it was the perfect opportunity to get to know them as the kind and accomplished folks that they are. We also got to know their dog Coop as the drooly, cuddly troublemaker he is too!

I'm honestly jealous I didn't live in the county growing up because I would have loved to have attended their school. Hope I can visit...