Princess Seafood Market & Deli

A working Noyo Harbor fish-company building that went from Paladini’s to the Schnaubelt family years to today’s seafood market and deli.

Overview

Princess Seafood Market & Deli occupies a long, low building with deep roots in Noyo’s commercial fishing trade.

Its practical shape reflects decades of dockside work, storage, and processing.

Today it serves the public as a seafood market and deli, while its earlier history reaches back through Paladini’s and the Schnaubelt family years.

Location

Princess Seafood Market & Deli is located at 32410 N. Harbor Drive in Fort Bragg.

Its North Harbor setting provided direct access to the dock and supported the property’s long commercial use.

History

Community memories place A. Paladini at this dock by the 1950s.

People remember buying shrimp for bait, fishing for perch while boats were unloaded, and occasionally catching lingcod from the dock. Others recall crab processing and a workforce that included many women.

The Paladini operation is remembered as ending locally around 1974.

In 1975, the Schnaubelt family purchased the property at auction.

Family recollections describe exploring beneath the dock and in the attic among old gear and equipment, visiting the deep freeze, watching boats come in, and fishing from the dock.

Fish fertilizer was also produced there during the Schnaubelt years.

Community memory places the sale of the property around 1994.

Today the property has a more public-facing role.

Princess Seafood Market & Deli sells fresh fish, prepared food, sandwiches, and deli items from the same North Harbor address.

Community comments reflect that current chapter, including praise for the crab sandwiches and one older memory of an expensive tuna sandwich.

Architectural Character

The building still looks like what it was built for.

Its long, low profile, practical siding, wide work areas, and dock access reflect function rather than decoration.

That simplicity helps preserve the character of its earlier commercial use.

Community Memories

The most vivid recollections are the personal details that sit outside the formal business timeline.

They include children fishing from the dock, time spent around the deep freeze, boats coming in, crab-picking work, and growing up around the building.

Those memories add the lived experience that ownership dates alone cannot provide.

Timeline

1950s – Community memories place A. Paladini at the property.

Around 1974 – The Paladini operation is remembered as ending locally.

1975 – The Schnaubelt family purchases the property at auction.

1975–around 1994 – The property remains under Schnaubelt family ownership.

Around 1994 – Community memory places the sale of the property.

Present – Princess Seafood Market & Deli operates at 32410 N. Harbor Drive.

Why It Matters

This property preserves several generations of Noyo Harbor life in one place.

Its importance comes from the continuity of use: a commercial waterfront building that moved through different owners and businesses without losing its basic connection to the harbor.

The names changed, but the building remained part of the same working landscape.