Laytonville is an un-incorporated town with a long and colorful history. Long before the Redwood Highway was rebuilt to support contemporary automobiles, this area provided much of the lumber and milling services for San Francisco 158 miles south. Laytonville and neighboring Branscomb produced some of the highest quality milled products for the building trade in San Francisco following the Gold Rush and ensuing growth and rebuilding following the Great Earthquake of 1906.

Laytonville got its name with the toss of a coin after blacksmith Layton moved his shop from Dos Rios to the junction of  Dos Rios/Branscomb Road and the Redwood Highway. As the lumber industry changed, Laytonville residents found direction from the Cahto, the original First Nation in this region. The Cahto earned their keep fishing and hunting, finding the richness of our forests, rivers and oceans a bounty. While we patiently await the chinook salmon and dungeness crab to return to their days of bounty, Laytonville has continued to changes with the times, and is the hosting community for Earthdance, The Kate Wolfe Concert, Camp Winnarainbow, and the Emerald Cup.

With a population of nearly 5,000, our community includes a new high school, a modern grocery store, several restaurants, shops and more. We are a mere half hour drive to the Pacific Coast, affording us a cool escape during the warm season. Winters are typical of lower elevation moutainous California, we rarely see snow in town. With countless miles of national forest, streams, rivers and parkland, Laytonville affords a quality of life unlike many areas in the country.