Gualala (/wəˈlɑː.lə/ wə-LAH-lə; Pomo: Qh awála-li)[5][6] is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County in the U.S. state of California.

[7] Gualala derives from the Kashaya Pomo village name Walaali, which itself is from Qh awála-li, meaning "where the water goes down".

[12] Though both the Spanish and the Russians attempted to colonize northern California in the early 18th century, few people made incursions into the region until the 1840s.

In 1844, Alta California Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted General Rafael Garcia 62.5 square miles (162 km2) of land between the Gualala River and Mal Paso Creek.

Sources conflict on the exact year of their arrival, but by 1862, he had sold part of the land to Webber and Rutherford so they could build a lumber mill in China Gulch, a small drainage near the mouth of the Gualala River.

[14] Initially, the mill transported lumber by a team of draft horses and a wide-gauge railway to "Robinson Point"., where a wire chute loaded ships.

[14] Soon after 1872, Robinson's wire chute gave way to nearby Bourn's Landing (pronounced "bones"), due to the comparatively safer anchorage at that location.

They also supervised the post office (which was also the stage stop), the Wells Fargo Express and the Western Union.

[14] Until that time, it was a common custom to send children to live with other families in larger areas to attend school.