Westport, California

Westport
Unincorporated community
Westport's town center
Westport
Location in California
Westport
Westport (the US)
Coordinates: 39°38′09″N 123°46′59″W / 39.63583°N 123.78306°W / 39.63583; -123.78306Coordinates: 39°38′09″N 123°46′59″W / 39.63583°N 123.78306°W / 39.63583; -123.78306
Country United States
State California
County Mendocino County
Elevation[1] 125 ft (38 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 60
Time zone UTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code 95488
Area code(s) 707

Westport (formerly Beall's Landing) is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California.[1] It is located on California State Route 1 near the Pacific Ocean[2] 13 miles (21 km) north of Fort Bragg,[3] at an elevation of 125 feet (38 m).[1]

The first post office at Westport opened in 1879.[3] Originally called Beall's Landing in honor of Samuel Beall, its first white settler, the place was renamed in 1877 by James T. Rodgers who built a timber loading facility for the name to contrast with his home town of Eastport, Maine.[3]

As of July 2010 the population of Westport is 60. It has a community store with gas pumps, and several inns.[4]

Westport and its vicinity have been the locale of several disappearances and inexplicable homicides over the years, including:

  • Linda Lee Lovell and Stephen Locke Packard's disappearance in June 1974;[5]
  • the Christine and Craig Langford disappearance in January 1981;[6][7]
  • Harlan Sutherland, homicide victim whose remains found on 1 March 1987;[8][9]
  • Clyde William Stanley's remains, found in March 1988;[10]
  • Donald James Cavanaugh and David Virgil Neily disappeared in 2005 and 2006 from the same address;[11]
  • Matthew Coleman, murdered in August 2011;[12][13]
  • and Abigail Hart, Ciera Hart, Markis Hart and Jeremiah Hart, all found dead in an SUV along with their same-sex adoptive parents on March 26, 2018, who may have intentionally driven the vehicle off a nearby cliff. Two other siblings, Devonte Hart and Hannah Hart, have also disappeared and are presumed dead.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Westport, California
  2. ↑ DeLorme California Atlas & Gazetteer (2008) Yarmouth, Maine p.47 ISBN 0-89933-383-4
  3. 1 2 3 Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 165. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  4. ↑ , author unknown, Westport Village Society. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Dwyer, William M., "A Grieving Mother Finds Hope in Art. New York Times, 13 March 1977. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  6. ↑ , Dustin Driscoll, Case Information, NamUS Missing Persons Database, U.S. Department of Justice, 4 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  7. ↑ , Dustin Driscoll, Case Information, NamUS Missing Persons Database, U.S. Department of Justice, 4 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Lois O'Rourke, "Tragedies brought families together on county's coast", Ukiah Daily Journal (Ukiah, CA), 27 November 1992, pp. 1, 14. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Bruce Anderson, Anderson Valley Advertiser (Boonville CA), 20 September 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Staff, "Sheriff IDs Westport Remains", Ukiah Daily Journal, (Ukiah, CA), 10 March 1988. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Donald Cavanaugh And David Neily: Two Missing Men, Two Unsolved Mysteries", Huffington Post, 21 November 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  12. ↑ Tim Stelloh, The New York Times, 28 September 2011, Retrieved 16 January 2017
  13. ↑ Google map. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Yan, Holly; Simon, Darrran; Nieves, Rosalina. "The troubling past of a family whose car plunged off a cliff". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  15. ↑ Hanna, Jason; Mossburg, Cheri (18 April 2018). "Hart family crash: Body ID'd as 12-year-old Ciera Hart". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2018.


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