Do you have a box or two in the back of your closet or a file drawer filled with “stuff” that you may or may not go through before passing to the next world? That must have been what happened to Augie Heeser. Some of the things from his lifetime have found a home in the Kelley House Museum and archives. August Alfred Heeser, son of [...]
You won't want to miss Fannie Farmer’s Flash Fringe Fantasia, April 13, 14 and 15, three days of special exhibits in conjunction with the Mendocino County Almost Fringe Festival. The Pop Up Cookbook Exhibit kicks off the event on Friday the 13th, with century-plus cookbooks from the Kelley House Museum collection, as well as treasured editions on loan from members of the community. And, for contrast, [...]
What is the appeal of a dance? Especially to the folks living and working around here in the old days, did they really need more exercise? No, it wasn’t about the exercise; it was about being amongst people, particularly people from outside one’s immediate environs. It was about getting cleaned up, putting on some nice clothes, being on one’s best behavior and maybe meeting someone new. [...]
When Little River was starting to hum with a mill, mill workers, and more folks settling in the area in the mid-1860s, the Pioneer Hotel would have been the only place to get a drink. The owner, August Frederick Mahlman, who had been working in the mills, realized that the growing community needed lodging and libations, so he built his hotel, which had rooms for his [...]
Dr. Peter Barg Midwife Frannie Leopold Modern healthcare is a challenge for many, but what was it like fifty years ago on the remote and isolated Mendocino Coast? Come to the Kelley House Museum on Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m. for “Alternative Health Care in the 1970s in Mendocino,” presented by Dr. Peter Barg and midwife Frannie Leopold. [...]
Delving into the past can often take one in unexpected directions. That has certainly been my experience conducting research at the Kelley House. This photograph of Gus and Alma Jacobs Mendosa represents an example. We think this was taken either some time before or shortly after their wedding, which occurred on June 29, 1927. It appears that the two of them attended an outing in the [...]
One of the big stories covered by the Mendocino Beacon 88 years ago this week was the election requesting the passage of bonds to rebuild Mendocino’s grammar school. The “old school,” which had been constructed in 1885, had burned in December 1929. The election was held on March 3, 1930. No lives were lost in the December fire of 1929, although Arthur Lemos had a bad [...]