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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Howard Lake (Mendocino County)

lake in northwest Mendocino County, California

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ15226119 ↗
Source-derived summary

Howard Lake is a natural lake in northwestern Mendocino County, California, located in the Mendocino National Forest at an elevation of 3,852 feet (1,174 m). It covers an area of 20 acres (8.1 ha). The lake hosts a small campground and is a popular primitive camping experience. In some years, the U.S. Forest Service stocks the lake with rainbow trout.

Howard Lake should not be confused with the lake of the same name located 21 miles (34 km) to the southwest.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Howard Lake (Mendocino County)” as lake in northwest Mendocino County, California. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current 81-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Howard, Lake and Mendocino can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as lake in northwest Mendocino County, California. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15226119. Authority coordinates are 39.880, -122.990. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. 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.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Howard Lake (Mendocino County)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Howard Lake (Mendocino County) primary sources, Howard Lake (Mendocino County) archive and Howard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Howard Lake (Mendocino County)”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Howard Lake (Mendocino County)” 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.