A Portuguese sea captain, Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno, discovered the bay  in 1595.  Then it was discovered by the Spanish captains Hezeta and Bodega, who anchored here June 9, 1775; they named the port La Santisima Trinidad.   In 1793 Captain George Vancouver found the natives friendly and courteous, just the way you wíll find them today.  Russian and other seafaring fur traders found harbor in Trinidad Bay in the early 1800s.  In December of 1849, Josiah Gregg and seven companions discovered Trinidad  after a harrowing month-long struggle over the mountains from the gold diggings (they went on to discover Humboldt Bay), and the rush was on.  Gold-seekers from all over the world used Trinidad as a supply port for mines on the Klamath, Trinity, and Salmon rivers goods, gear, and miners were offloaded, and lumber to build San Francisco was on-loaded for the trip back.  Seekers of treasure of all kinds, gold, timber, whales, fish, crabs, recreation, burls, beauty, the good life have discovered Trinidad.  Now it is your turn.

The piers history dates from the 1850s when Trinidad was a boom town supplying the gold rush.  Later, it was the only local seaport to ship lumber from the flourishing sawmills of the area.  In the early 1900s the pier served as a whaling station.