# I'm curious. What does "Humboldt" bring to mind for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2003, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419 "2003-04-04T08:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/61 "2003-04-05T02:49:17Z")
Humboldt, Kansas. A tiny town about 10 miles away from my town (Chanute). One time I was using AAA trip planner and I put in Humboldt, KS to Chanute, KS. It said "Humboldt, KS and Chanute KS are virtually the same place. It’s that small. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/62 "2003-04-05T03:28:03Z")
A big time partying school…the previously mentioned **Humboldt University**. ---
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/63 "2003-04-05T04:07:05Z")
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), German naturalist, and Humboldt University in Berlin, which was named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Alan\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/64 "2003-04-05T04:35:56Z")
It’s also a county in Northern Nevada, and the Humboldt River runs through the county seat (where I happen to live). That’s probably why I heard of the explorer at a young age, even though I don’t believe he ever got within a half-continent of here! –Alan Q ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/65 "2003-04-05T04:41:28Z")
Another vote for a county in California. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/66 "2003-04-05T05:48:00Z")
Another vote for weed. Really really good weed. Also, [Humboldt Hemp Ale](http://www.humbrew.com/hemp.html), since I saw that at my last party in Santa Cruz. The origin of “420” from [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.htm). (It’s not a police code.) > [@](#): > > And in 2001, the [forReal.org](http://forReal.org) web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Substance Abuse Prevention put out a public service document titled, “It’s 4:20 – Do You Know Where Your Teen Is?” Heh heh. -Troy McClure SF, taking another step to make sure everyone knows I smoke weed, despite the fact that I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/67 "2003-04-05T06:27:46Z")
1. Saskatchewan town where my mother-in-law lives. 2. Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), Prussian linguist, philosopher and education reformer. Penguins? currents? weed? never heard of any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/68 "2003-04-05T07:02:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neidhart \* > \*\*Humboldt Park, a Mexican neighborhood in Chicago. \*\* The dominant ethnic group in Humboldt Park (Chicago, IL) is Puerto Rican. Humboldt Park, IL was home to some very serious riots on June 4-5, 1977 after the Puerto Rican Day Parade. ---
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/69 "2003-04-05T08:18:52Z")
Marijuana, the California county, and the university situated there. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/70 "2003-04-05T08:28:43Z")
Well, this morning in the papers I read about ‘Humboldt pinguins’ in a zoo. So I can share that association as well. When is the OP coming back to explain why she wants to know? ---
**Author:** ![Shana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Shana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shana)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/71 "2003-04-05T08:44:45Z")
**Priceguy** , I thought of _Lolita_ too. Strange. ---
**Author:** ![dono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@dono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dono)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/72 "2003-04-05T14:41:11Z")
My idiot boss, who is a graduate of Humboldt State. Hope he’s not representative of the student body there. ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/73 "2003-04-05T18:03:05Z")
Humboldt: The dope, Humboldt Co. is the epicenter of the “Emerald Triangle.” No one mentioned Humboldt’s Parrot? When Alex. von Humboldt was exploring S. America he came across a tribe in Brasil that owned a parrot that spoke the language of another tribe. The parrot’s tribe had been wiped out, and the Parrot was the only “speaker” left. Humboldt was supposed to have kept that Parrot throughout his life. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/74 "2003-04-05T18:36:01Z")
Kamikazee said: > [@](#): > > Humboldt TN, The home of my redneck cousins. Also they have massive strawberry festival every year. The best strawberries in the world come from the Humboldt area. My mouth waters just thinking about them. It is quite an industry. I hope that the hospitable and gentle citizens of Humboldt, TN are kind to your kinfolk. I can see where rednecks might have trouble fitting in there. 😃 – one of the girls from the floats * * * ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/75 "2003-04-05T19:00:07Z")
A street, a [park and pond](http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/wi/milwaukee/postcards/humbol.jpg), and an [elementary school](http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/223.htm) on the south side of Milwaukee. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/76 "2003-04-05T19:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by coyasicanbe \* > \*\*It’s a street I used to live on. > > In between Grant St and Iron St. > > They’re alphabetical. And it only took me two years to figure that one out. \*\* I lived on that same Humboldt! ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/77 "2003-04-05T21:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Orignally posted by **TTT** _ > When is the OP coming back to explain why she wants to know? There’s already a novella of a post from me on the bottom of page one that explains that I’m from Humboldt County California. I suppose I’m partially curious to know how far and to what degree the legends and urban legends have spread about the tiny isolated corner of the world that I hold so dear. If you spend much time there, (your young adult life for example) the concept that so many people from so far away hold your home in such high regard…yet will likey never have the good fortune of spending any time there…is surreal to say the least. I hesitate to make this comparison, for fear of being considered a literary reference heretic, but there are areas of Southern Humboldt that are basically the equivalent of Tolkein’s Shire. Just imagine a place that is a 2 hour drive from the nearest McDonalds, even the nearest stop light. To get there, you have your choice of three or four long, winding country roads. Each of them pass through the cool, dark Redwood Forest floor, and meander along crystal clear streams. You climb high over coastal mountains and then the horizon gives way to a stunning coast line. All of the roads seem to somehow meet, yet not meet, and you’d better have a map if you want to get home…some people have slipped into the Humboldt Hills, never to be seen again… 😉 Those that have elected to stay are akin to the townsfolk from _Northern Exposure_. But instead of a former astronaut, we are neighbors of a visiting Doctor of Primatology on sabatical. Instead of a Jewish Doctor from NY living in the cabin on the next ridge, it is the lawyer who managed to cop an insanity plea for Harvey Milk’s murderer, (aka “The twinkie deffense”). Everyone has a story, and since everyone’s clocks run on Humboldt Time, you have the chance to hear each one, if you want to. Or you can just keep to yourself and only speak to another soul when you need to buy groceries. Like Middle Earth, much of Planet Earth goes about their day not really knowing or caring what goes on within a few green valleys nestled in the California Hills. I suppose I’m just curious to hear about some who do know it is there. I’m certainly not only interested in the replies that satisfy my homesick indulgence…I really am interested in the response diversity. I always smile when I come across “Humblodt” in contexts outside of those that are familiar to me. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **dono** _ > My idiot boss, who is a graduate of Humboldt State. Hope he’s not representative of the student body there. There are assholes everywhere. Humboldt State is an excellent school. Not that I’m biased or anything… If you’re interested in Biology, Marine Biology, Botany, Forestry, Wildlife, Ecology, Natural Resources, etc, I’d certainly check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/78 "2003-04-06T04:33:04Z")
And don’t forget the glories of northern Humboldt Co.–not quite as Shire-like, due to the presence of more tall-folk, but with a pristine beauty all its own. Take a walk in Lady Bird Grove–a place of ferns and redwoods, of greens and browns of such variety to dazzle the eye, a spot replete with moisture–streams and misty fog, dew glistening throughout the day, rich with the smell of earth and growing things, cool and still even in the heart of summer. Find yourself surrounded by blooming azelas and rhododrendens in a fantastic park set in the middle of McKinleyville. Stand on the beach as the fog rolls in, until you are wrapped in a cocoon of white, everything a vague outline, soft and ethereal, with the sound of the surf resounding against the rocks. Or stand on a cliff, in redwoods, and watch the sun go down over the ocean, sheltered by giants, looking towards the ends of the earth. Listen to the rain (and you will have this opportunity anytime of the year, Humboldt Co. barely distinguishes between seasons, and rain in always in season). Man, I have to get down there, I need a fix! The trouble with going down there on holidays is that there are a bunch of family functions to go to (which love), so there’s not as much time for a full day hiking the beach. **Honeydewgirl** , my family used to spend a week or two each summer in Miranda at the old Whispering Pines motel, and because I went to St. Bernard’s in Eureka, I came down for a few football and basketball games at South Fork High. And, to top it off, my aunt had a place along the Mattole River (but I haven’t been there since I was about 4–but the pictures are great!). The world is a small town, sister, and six degrees of separation is a maximum, not a minimum. If you’re related to any Etter’s, French’s or Wahlund’s we may be cousins! ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/79 "2003-04-06T05:14:54Z")
First I think of the university in northern California where some of the potheads from high school went. Then the current. Then the famous guy, whoever he was. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419/80 "2003-04-06T05:17:37Z")
That’s the guy I was thinking of, **mhendo**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-curious-what-does-humboldt-bring-to-mind-for-you/166419.md?page=5)