It is located 280 miles (450 km) north of San Francisco (via Highway 101), and is home to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

A local newspaper editor, who would later be known as Bret Harte, was forced to leave the Humboldt Bay area after he editorialized his disgust with the incident.

[12] Union was created as a port, and reprovisioning center for the gold mines in the Klamath, Trinity, and Salmon mountains to the east, and was very briefly the county seat during this period.

What was to become the first significant town on Humboldt Bay began as Union Company employees laid out the plaza and first city streets in the Spring of 1850.

By later in the 1850s redwood timber replaced the depleted gold fields as the economic driver for the region and Eureka became the principal city on the bay due to its possession of the better harbor, gaining it the county seat by the end of the decade.

"[15] History and images of early settler families in Arcata are cataloged in the Susie Baker Fountain Papers and True Hoyle Collection at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

There are additional named neighborhoods encompassed by the city: They include: Aldergrove, Alliance (which was once a separate community located North of Arcata), Arcata Bottoms, portions of Bayside (despite it having its own Post Office and postal code), Bayview, California Heights, the Creamery District, Fickle Hill (lower portions), Greenview, the Marsh District (aka South G Street), Redwood Park (which includes the City-owned Redwood forest), Sunny Brae, Sunset, and Westwood.

[21] Arcata has a cool-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb), which is dominated by marine influences associated with Humboldt Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

On average, Arcata experiences 40 to 50 inches (1,000 to 1,300 mm) of rain per year, though there is a short but pronounced dry season from June to September.

Northerly winds keep the spring very cool and create a coastal upwelling of deep, cold, ocean water.

[22] Changing populations have happened in timber and mining towns in the American West as a result of boom and bust economic cycles.

The US Census estimates the current population of Arcata to be 18,989, of which 5,698 are students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

The Plaza has a green lawn, extensive flower plantings, and at its center there used to be a statue of president William McKinley by Haig Patigian.

The workshop hosts the largest assemblage of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and dance masters in the United States.

[37] Opponents of the statue condemned McKinley's supposed support of settler colonialism and policies that led to the slaughter of Native Americans.

[45][46] The Arcata Marsh, a constructed network of freshwater and saltwater ponds initially completed in 1979, demonstrates a revolutionary marsh-based wastewater treatment system.

The marsh is a popular destination for cyclists, bird watchers, transients, and joggers, and was recently expanded as a part of the McDaniel Slough restoration project.

[49] The Arcata Community Forest was originally acquired by the City in order to protect the integrity of its municipal water supply.

The Council directs the course of local government through its power to adopt ordinances, levy taxes, award contracts, and appoint certain city officers, commissions and committees.

[56] Arcata was also the first municipality to ban the growth of any type of Genetically Modified Organism within city limits, with exceptions for research and educational purposes.

[61] Arcata is a hub of liberal thought typical of a college town, a place where environmentalism and social activism are broadly embraced.

[65] Arcata residents are active in regional environmental protection, and played a contributing role in the successful effort to preserve the Headwaters Forest from logging.

With a student body equaling nearly half the city's total population, Arcata is a classic example of a traditional "college town."

[71] The town has a number of small 'zines and blogs that cover a variety of local issues, including youth culture and homelessness.

The highways connecting Arcata to areas outside Humboldt County include long segments of winding two-lane road traversing remote mountains and river canyons, portions of which may close after extensive rain and wind storms, requiring possibly long detours.

Redwood Transit System (RTS) is the major provider of public bus transportation in Humboldt County, with several stops in Arcata.

The Amtrak Thruway 7 bus provides daily connections to/from Arcata and Martinez to the south, including stops at points in between along the Highway 101 corridor.

This airport was built by the Army Air Corps in World War II in a particularly foggy location, as a site to test fog dispersal techniques.

No successful dispersal method appears to have been found, and after demobilization the airfield was given to the County of Humboldt as a civilian airport.

Some arriving flights are diverted to Redding, California, a three-hour drive to the east, or Crescent City, about 90 miles (140 km) to the north.