A Company Town

Since we were newlyweds, OilMan and I have been driving up Highway 101 to visit first his grandmother in Ukiah, CA, and much later his mother in Gold Beach, OR. We would always pass the town of Scotia, built for the Pacific Lumber Company for the workers in its mill there. Situated below the highway, it always looked rather dark, grim and neglected, and I assumed the mill had closed and the town had died.

While planning this trip, OilMan came across a website for the Scotia Inn and it looked rather quaint. We decided to book in for the last night of our road trip with Lady Findhorn and His Lordship. Quaint it was, having retained most of the original features from when it was built in the late 1800's, (including the clawfoot tub, rattling windows and tiny bed). The imposing two story redwood lobby was deserted, save for one young woman who gave us the key to our rooms which were miles away down deserted hallways lined with old photographs of the mill and the town, and the occasional piece of period furniture topped with a dusty artificial flower arrangement.

When we went along to the restaurant for dinner we found ourselves in a noisy, busy pub jammed with local people warming up for the weekend over a few pints. I couldn't help laughing when I saw a juke box almost identical to the one we had seen the day before in the dubious Mrs. Q's.

A walk around the town after dinner revealed a thriving town--neatly trimmed lawns, well planted gardens, and streets lined with rows of well kept houses. The setting sun cast a warming glow on backyard barbecues, children riding bikes and playing with dogs, and preteens gathered, as preteens will in front of the company store, a beautifully weathered redwood building across from the bank. Behind all this, the mill continues to operate, belching steam and smelling pleasantly of the sawdust lying about in huge mounds.

The pictures I took this morning lack the setting sunlight, but I hope they illustrate my amazement at finding a thriving, happy place where I thought there would only be a ghost town....

A drive through the Avenue of the Giants, huge redwoods in a cathedral-like atmosphere, and a slight detour through Redwood Valley to look for Oilman's grandmother's house, has brought us back to the white house at the end of a very congenial and scenic trip. We're looking forward to introducing Lady F and HL to our new hometown....