Location of Spyglass Subdivision & Facts about Smith River

Enjoy breathtaking ocean views in Smith River’s spectacularly scenic Spyglass Subdivision.  Spyglass is a gated community located on the coast of upstate California, a mere one and one-half miles from the Oregon border off Highway 101.  This unique, carefully planned development overlooks the mouths of the scenic Smith and Chetco Rivers, which are world-renowned for salmon and steelhead fishing.  The Spyglass community is comprised of custom lots with underground utilities and spacious building pads waiting for homes and dreams to be built.  Custom homes are also available if building your own home isn’t right for you.  Spyglass Subdivision’s location is the premier spot for challenging, top-rated golf.  Discover the new Salmon Run golf course just six miles to the north in Brookings, Oregon or drive the 85 miles to Bandon Dunes, one of the highest rated golf courses in the United States. 

Smith River and Crescent City are located in beautiful upstate California: an area so scenic and peaceful, you’ll redefine the meaning of “home”.  Discover beauty in all that upstate California has to offer from ancient redwood forests and rivers teeming with fish to stretches of pristine California beaches and a historic working harbor.  Crescent City is an awarding winning city that has earned a s pot on Forbes Traveler’s 2009 and 2010 list of the 20 prettiest towns in the United States, as well as having appeared in National Geographic.  Enjoy choice golf, splendid shopping opportunities, excellent attractions and events, and natural wonders.  Please continue reading below to discover just a few of the wonders that await you in Smith River and Crescent City. 

Del Norte County is rich with history of Native American tribes and rugged fishing and logging pioneers! Before Del Norte County was populated with white settlers, it was home to two Native American tribes: the Yurok tribe and the Tolowa tribe. These two tribes thrived off of the area's plentiful fish and acorns and continue to flourish today as part of the county's rich culture.

 When the white settlers arrived, they brought with them roads.  The first road to penetrate the county was the Crescent City Plank Road to the Illinois River in Oregon.  The road was completed in May of 1858.  The towns of Klamath and Crescent City were created by the gold rush taking part at the gold fields to the east of their locations.  River conditions soon proved to be too hazardous for the town of Klamath, but Crescent City boomed as a destination for ships from San Francisco. 

As the flood of people arriving in search of gold slowed to a trickle, agriculture and lumbering became the primary businesses of Crescent City.  The town of Smith River, located north of Crescent City, was a primarily agricultural community that supplied Crescent City’s agricultural needs.  Soon, lumbering and fishing became the primary business ventures of the coastal towns.

The timber industry soon became Del Norte County’s major economic resource.  In 1853 the first mill was established in Crescent City, in which oxen moved logs to and from the mill.  In the 1870’s the oxen were replaced by a railroad that brought the logs to market.  In the 1920’s the Caterpillar tractor and the logging truck displaced the railroad as the most efficient method of logging.

On March 28, 1964, a violent earthquake occurred in Anchorage, Alaska causing a tsunami that destroyed over 150 businesses and homes in Crescent City.  The earthquake measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, causing the destructive tsunami that killed 11 people.  This tsunami led to Crescent City earning the slogan: “Come Back Town U.S.A.!”