Eureka

Town and administrative headquarters of Humboldt County, northwest California; population (2000) 26,100. It is situated on Humboldt Bay, 362 km/225 mi north-northwest of San Francisco. Since the 1850s it has been one of California's chief lumbering centres, drawing especially on redwoods from nearby forests. It is also a centre for commercial fishing, shipping, tourism, and commerce. Eureka is headquarters for Six Rivers National Forest, and home to the College of the Redwoods (1964).

Fort Humboldt (1853), where Ulysses S Grant once served as captain, is now a State Historic Park. Indian Island, in the bay, was the scene of a massacre of American Indian women and children in 1860. In 1885 Chinese residents were driven from the town.

Eureka's well-known Victorian buildings include the 1885 Carson Mansion. The decommissioned Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant (1963-76) is southwest of the city centre.

Eureka

Town and administrative headquarters of Woodford County, north-central Illinois; population (1990) 4,400. It is located 27 km/17 mi east of Peoria. It is a trade and distribution centre for locally produced pumpkins and livestock. It is home to Eureka College (1855).