John M. Vance, pioneer lumberman and railroad developer, established Carlotta in 1904 as a summer resort on the Van Duzen River. The resort had a hotel, a store, a livery stable-blacksmith shop, a saloon and several cottages. Vance named the resort for his youngest daughter, Carlotta.

Work on the hotel began in the fall of 1903, but it wasn't ready for occupancy until the following spring. The grand opening dance was postponed "owing to a delay in getting the gas light fixtures in place."

Prohibition and the depression brought a slump to Carlotta which continued until the lumber boom of the 1940s.

When the Carlotta Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, Carlotta was the site of two large lumber mills.

Source: NRHP nomination submitted in 1978.

The Carlotta Hotel was one of the finest resorts in the state, according to a 1906 article in the Eureka Daily Standard. Over the years, the hotel changed hands several times and was closed for a while. When the lumber industry boomed in the early 1950s, the building was reopened as housing.

Residents said the once first-class hotel slowly dilapidated until it was used as mostly a bar.

In 1977, Angelo Batini bought the entire township. He restored the hotel and reopened it in 1984.

The historic hotel had a brief return to glory, attracting diners from all over the county to its Italian restaurant and visitors from across the country to its many rooms.

In the mid-1990s, an electrical fire sparked a blaze that destroyed the building.

Source: A Quiet Spot Along the Highway By Thadeus Greenson in The Eureka Times-Standard, 4 May 2006

Today, there are no lumber mills and few residents in Carlotta.