Little River, California
census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States
Little River (formerly known as Littleriver, Bell's Harbor, and Kent's Landing) is a small census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It lies at an elevation of 66 feet (20 m), 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Mendocino and running along the Pacific Ocean coast on State Route 1. The town takes its name from the nearby Little River. The town center sits on a scenic bluff overlooking the mouth of the Little River and hosts a grocery store, two gas pumps, a post office, and a restaurant within a single structure. The population was 94 at the 2020 census, down from 117 at the 2010 census.
Economy
Little River is home to several boutique inns and bed & breakfasts, making it a popular tourist stop along the Pacific Coast. The Little River area has two state parks, much ocean access and diverse recreational opportunities including ocean kayaking, hiking, and canoeing. Little River Airport with its mile-long runway is 2 miles (3 km) east of town.
The ZIP Code is 95456. The community is inside area code 707.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Little River, California” as census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3459103. VIAF identifies the subject as 157069022. The Library of Congress control number is n00037464. Authority coordinates are 39.271, -123.788. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 2010.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Little River, California”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Little River, California primary sources, Little River, California archive and Little research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Little River, California”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Little River, California” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.