[2] It is located on Humboldt Bay 6 miles (9.7 km) south-southwest of downtown Eureka,[4] at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m).

Before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as Humboldt County was occupied by a number of indigenous peoples, including the Wiyot, Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, Chilula, Whilkut, and the southern Athabascans.

The Josiah Gregg party arrived by land in December 1849, and by 1850 the first ships came to the bay bringing men seeking gold.

As the Gold Rush subsided, the economy shifted to the use of the surrounding natural resources, mainly timber, salmon, and agricultural land.

Indians were enslaved under the terms of the 1850 "Act for the Government and Protection of Indians" that provided legal basis for the continued Californio practice of capturing and using Native people as forced workers, particularly that of young women and children, which was carried on as a legal business enterprise.

Development around the bay, disease, and the February 26, 1860 Indian Island Massacre, and consequences of the Bald Hills War, led to decimation of the peaceful Wiyot reducing their numbers from 3,000 to less than 100 survivors by 1865.

When the Northwestern Pacific Railroad was extended into the Humboldt Bay area in 1914, it functioned as a dike, and allowed the tidal marshes to be converted into agricultural lands.

[7] After World War II, a new Douglas fir and plywood industry brought in many out-of-state loggers and mill workers.

New groups of people began to arrive, namely Hispanic workers and families, and refugees from the Vietnam War.

[7] The 2000 U.S. Census stated that 50% of the population 18 years and older received a high school degree as their highest educational attainment compared to the national average of 28.6%.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, zero residents of Fields Landing had received a graduate degree or higher compared to the national average of 7.8% for the same year.

[7] Fields Landing residents owned eight vessels in 2000, all of which participated in the federally managed groundfish fishery.

Seven federally managed groundfish fishery permits were held by three Fields Landing residents in 2000.

[7] The 2000 U.S. Census indicates that 0% of the employed civilian population 16 years and over worked in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries.

This percentage may not be indicative of the actual number of people in these professions as many are self-employed, especially in the fishing industry.

[14] Federally, Field's Landing is in California's 2nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Jared Huffman.

Amtrak, Redwood Transit, and Greyhound provide rail and bus service respectively from nearby communities to greater metropolitan areas throughout the country.

[7] Students attend local elementary, middle, and high schools in the nearby community of Eureka.