Lyons Ranches Historic District: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Redwood National Park, National Park Service

Luellen, Mark; Provencher, Shaun

The Lyons Ranches Historic District is located within the Bald Hills of Redwood National Park, Humboldt County, California and is set within the prairies and oakwoods of the Redwood Creek watershed. The District is reached via the Bald Hills Road from State Highway 101 and is approximately nine miles inland from the coast. The 5,660-acre district is comprised of a series of eight prairies and the features within these prairies that remain from the Lyons family sheep ranching era. The eight prairies of the district extend for approximately six miles, with each prairie being no more than a mile from the next. They are located along the ridge of the hills and are naturally occurring features that have been modified over time by the cultural practices of the various groups of people that have inhabited this region. The district is locally significant under National Register Criterion A for its association with the history and development of the Bald Hills as a sheep ranching community and for its association with the establishment and development of social and economic relationships between Native American people and the immigrant Euro-American society in the Bald Hills. The district is also significant under Criterion C at the local level as an example of a large-scale sheep ranch from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries in Humbolt County. Its period of significance — 1868-1959 — encompasses the period of time that sheep ranching was a viable activity in the Bald Hills and that the Lyons ranches were representative of Bald Hills sheep ranching. The district is almost devoid of any intrusions following the period of significance. Contributing landscape characteristics of the district include natural systems and features (including the eight prairies - Elk Camp, Dolason Hill, Counts Hill, Childs Hill, Schoolhouse Prairie, Lower Coyote Creek, Long, and Coyote Creek prairies), historic archeological sites, buildings and structures, small scale features, vegetation, circulation, topography, spatial organization, and cluster arrangement. These characteristics include remnants of orchards, roads, fencing, water troughs, stock ponds, and barns. Key contributing features include the Bald Hills Road; the Elk Camp Sheep Shed, Lane House and Garage at the Elk Camp Prairie; Dolason Sheep Shed in the Dolason Hill Prairie; Home Place Barn, Bunkhouse, Outhouse, and Cemetery at the Home Place in the Schoolhouse Prairie; the Dooleyville Line Cabin in the Lower Coyote Creek Prairie; Long Ridge Sheep Shed and Herders’ Trailer in the Long Prairie; and the Coyote Creek Sheep Shed, Line Cabin, Outhouse in the Coyote Creek Prairie. In addition, remnant orchards and individual orchard trees are found in a number of locations within the District and are key landscape features. The Lyons Ranches Historic District retains integrity as a historic vernacular landscape and is in fair condition.

Lyons Ranches Historic District: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Redwood National Park, National Park Service

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