Mount Pierce

Mount Pierce, a 3,179-foot mountain on Monument Ridge in Humboldt County, is the highest point on the ridge and commands wide views across northwestern California and toward Oregon. Named for President Franklin Pierce, its summit gained lasting importance in 1853 when surveyors established the Humboldt meridian there because Mount Diablo could not be seen from California’s far northwest. The Humboldt meridian and its base line, fixed at Mount Pierce, still control land surveys in that region. The summit, once marked by an iron-bar tower, is now identified by antennas, a geodetic marker, and the survey station disc marking the Humboldt Meridian Initial Point.

California · United States