Fieldbrook is located on California's North Coast, approximately north of San Francisco and south of the Oregonstate line. Located on the edge of the dense redwood forest, the area was once home to thriving lumber companies. Fieldbrook is east of the larger, unincorporated seaside town of McKinleyville and the Arcata-Eureka Airport, approximately northeast of the harbor city of Arcata, and about north of the city of Eureka, the Humboldt County seat. Fieldbrook is at the northern edge of the McKinleyville-Arcata-Eureka-Fortuna corridor along US Highway 101, where about eighty percent of Humboldt County's population lives and most of its businesses are located. The ZIP Code is 95519. The community is inside area code 707. Fieldbrook is located at the right-angle bend where Murray Road becomes Fieldbrook Road. In the mid-1990s Fieldbrook was a stereotypical sleepy country hamlet, with junk cars sitting in weedy yards along the main road in one block and goats grazing alongside a church in the next. With the decline of the localtimber industry, the advent of telecommuting professionals, and the sudden emergence of the North Coast as a retirement destination, Fieldbrook with its mild weather has recently been undergoing gentrification. Sprawling ranch-style homes on isolated lots wedged between timber tracts are selling for $500,000, and at least one timber tract has become a gated community. The few blocks of paved and unpaved roads that comprise Fieldbrook proper include modest homes, an elementary school and two churches, as well as a general store, a winery and an apple orchard that host public events. Larger residences whose owners identify with the Fieldbrook community continue south along Fieldbrook Road as it heads inland and uphill to the small city of Blue Lake at the foot of the Coast Range. The road connects there with State Highway 299, a rather adventurous winding route that crosses the mountains and connects with Interstate 5 in Redding, about east. Fieldbrook is very nearly on the north bank of the Mad River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean between Arcata and McKinleyville. Although the Mad River supplies the water to much of Humboldt County's population, that small population does not have a significant impact on the river's flow. The north side of Fieldbrook Road is second-growth redwood forest with the occasional clearing for a house, and the logging rules allow the forest canopy to maintain a height of. A narrow zone adjacent to the road is maintained as an unlogged buffer, presenting the illusion of virgin forest to tourists, but even on the north side of the buffer, in any given year the majority of the timber tracts have been growing for at least seven years, comprising a wilderness if not exactly parkland. The region abounds with wildlife and residents routinely find deer and elk grazing in their yards, foxes and raccoons digging through their garbage, the occasional black bear or cougar.
History
A post office operated at Fieldbrook from 1902 to 1932. In the late 1800s to early 1900s much of Fieldbrook was owned by Lumber Companies. Railroad lines ran through Fieldbrook to Humboldt Bay.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Fieldbrook had a population of 859. The population density was 82.0 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Fieldbrook was 763 White, 4 African American, 19 Native American, 5 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 14 from other races, and 54 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 51 persons. The Census reported that 859 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 347 households, out of which 90 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 190 were opposite-sex married couplesliving together, 26 had a female householder with no husband present, 16 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 27 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 8 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 72 households were made up of individuals and 23 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48. There were 232 families ; the average family size was 2.87. The population was spread out with 162 people under the age of 18, 55 people aged 18 to 24, 190 people aged 25 to 44, 351 people aged 45 to 64, and 101 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males. There were 377 housing units at an average density of 36.0 per square mile, of which 347 were occupied, of which 281 were owner-occupied, and 66 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.8%. 710 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 149 people lived in rental housing units.
Government
In the state legislature, Fieldbrook is in, and. Federally, Fieldbrook is in.
