Located 17 miles south of the historic village of Mendocino, Elk is a "hamlet" -- a peaceful and engaged, contemporary community, composed of retired professionals, craftspeople, and hoteliers, with an enviable quality of life. Formerly named Greenwood, the town is a lively community composed of equal parts history and contemporary good living, Bed & Breakfast Inns -- all directly on the ocean, quaint shops, restaurants, a community art gallery, even a state park with historic visitor center, to recount the days of the lumber industry on the North Coast. While the sign at the edge of town says “Population 250,” truth be told, there are only about 80 full-time residents enjoying this little slice of Heaven on Earth. The current village lies a mile south of the first local settlement, known as Coffey’s Cove. It was settled in 1850 by two schooner shipmates, Frank Farnier of Portugese heritage, and a black American, Nathaniel Smith. The town got its name from the Australian colloquialism, “cuffey” for a black person. Frank and Nat were farmers, and are credited with producing the famous Cuffey’s Cove red potatoes. By 1870, business was booming and a post office was established. An 1886 census showed a population of 300 living and working in town. But the boom was short-lived. A fire that year destroyed a large portion of the town. The post office was closed, and the town never recovered. The only remaining evidence of the once thriving town is the graveyard on the bluffs on the West side of Highway 1. Shortly afterward, Lorenzo (L.E.) White purchased 21 acres of land. At about the same time that Farnier and Smith landed at Cuffey’s Cove, four brothers, William, Britton, James and Boggs Greenwood settled on a ranch along the creek south of Cuffey’s Cove. The brothers were trappers and hunters, and supplied mills and camps up the coast as far north as Mendocino. Their father, Caleb, a trapper and guide, is believed to have helped the Donner party prior to their disastrous trek into the Sierra. Caleb and the boys’ Indian mother, remained in the Sierra foothills, from where Caleb guided pioneers from California to Oregon. By 1875, Greenwood’s population had grown to 50, including the four Greenwood brothers. In 1887, L.E. White began building a new mill in the cove just south of town. He implemented his vision of a sophisticated system for getting logs to the mill and finished lumber out to where it could be graded and stored, and then out to schooners for delivery to San Francisco. The company formed a large millpond by damming the creek where it emptied out to the cove. Devices called “steam donkeys” towed heavy logs from the forest out to where they were loaded onto flatcars and brought by train to the millpond. From there, log-walking “pond men” with pick-poles moved them into “boom pockets” by species and then coaxed them to the mill at the base of the bluffs. Sawn lumber was hauled up a ramp to the town level. When ready to ship, the lumber was placed on rail carts, which were lowered by cable to tracks that ran along the edge of the bluffs. Four mules, all named “Maude,” drew the carts to the Greenwood Wharf, where the lumber was loaded onto waiting ships. The mules were sheltered in a shack alongside the tracks called “Maude’s House.” By 1890, everything was in full operation and Greenwood’s population had swelled to over 1,000, sustained by 14 saloons, 4 dance halls, a barber, butcher shop, and creamery. Mill production steadily increased to 100,000 board feet per day. In 1893, White built an executive guesthouse on the bluff overlooking the millpond, to accommodate visiting buyers while they negotiated the purchases that helped to build San Francisco, and then rebuild the city after the Great Earthquake of 1906. That house is now the Elk Cove Inn. By then, Greenwood’s population had grown to the point where it needed to apply for its own post office. The only problem was that Caleb Greenwood had already received approval for a Greenwood post office in Eldorado County. So our Greenwood was forced to choose another name. A herd of Elk in the area provided the inspiration. However, as rustic, hard-working and stubborn settlers, the town refused to give up its original name. And so, we are called “The Town with Two Names.” Our town is still officially Greenwood. Our Post Office is Elk.