Fortuna Centennial Celebration


Fortuna's Centennial Celebration

Fortuna's been around since 1874 but wasn't incorporated (become a self-governing entity) as a City until February 20, 1906. That means that Fortuna is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Visit the Gallery to see historic pictures of Fortuna, and also visit the local history part of this web site.

Party in the park for Fortuna's 100th birthday

Christine Sackey / The Humboldt Beacon


Fortuna will celebrate its 100th birthday with an old-fashioned family picnic in the park next month.
Fortunans are invited to a picnic September 9 in Rohner Park to celebrate the city's centennial. The picnic will be from noon to 4 p.m. and will feature free barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs and watermelon, live music, and old-fashioned family games.

”This really is a family picnic. It's just a really big family,” Centennial Committee member David Reed said.

All Fortuna residents are invited. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own side dishes and share with neighbors.

The Centennial Committee is also looking for centenarians and near centenarians to honor at the picnic. If you know anyone who is 90 years old or older, call Ginger Vance at 725-1409. Centenarians who attend the picnic will receive a special memento.

In addition, the picnic will be your last chance to have a favorite recipe immortalized in the Fortuna Centennial Cookbook. Committee members will take last recipe submissions at the picnic.

 

.

What was it Like a Hundred Years Ago on February 20, 1906?

  • More than 500 people are killed during an earthquake (February 18) and ensuing three-day fire that razed more than four square miles of San Francisco.
  • Federal spending: $0.57 billion
  • Unemployment: 1.7%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.02

What Else Happened on a February 20?

  • 1792 - The US Postal service is created.
  • 1872 - Incorporated in 1870, New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors to the public.
  • 1915 - The World's Fair opens in San Francisco. The fair, called the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, celebrates the opening of the Panama Canal and the rebuilding of S.F. following the 1906 earthquake.
  • 1944 - Batman and Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers.
  • 1952 - "African Queen", starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, debuted at the Capitol Theater in New York.
  • 1962 - John Glenn, sealed up in a can called Friendship 7, made space history as the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth.

Who Else is Having a Birthday on February 20?

  • Ansel Adams, born in 1902, at 114 Maple Street in San Francisco
  • Louis Kahn
  • Carl Stotz, founded Little League Baseball
  • John Daly, host of "What's My Line" TV show
  • Gloria Vanderbilt
  • Robert Altman, M*A*S*H
  • Sidney Poitier
  • Amanda Blake, Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke"
  • Enzo Ferrari
  • Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
  • Bobby Unser
  • Roger Penske
  • Richard Beymer, "West Side Story"
  • Buffy Sainte-Marie
  • Phil Esposito
  • Sandy Duncan
  • Jerome Geils, J. Geils Band
  • Jennifer O'Neill, "Summer of '42"
  • Ivana Trump
  • Walter Becker, Steely Dan
  • Patty Hearst
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Kurt Cobain
  • Kelsey Grammer
  • Cheyenne Brando