Copy of a Carleton Watkin's photograph of the Mendocino Headlands showing the Freundt and Ford House on the south side of Main Street, c. 1863. View is to the northwest, with the Mendocino Bay behind the camera.The Freundt House is on the left and the Ford House is on the far right. The Ford water tower can be partially seen on the far right. Buildings in-between [...]
We need some help from the public – what are these people doing? Several years ago the Kelley House Museum was given this vintage photograph taken around 1924 showing a scene on Main Street, Mendocino. We see costumed performers in front of the former Ford House, which has a large sign on the roof that reads, "BIGGEST ON EARTH." The writing on the back of the [...]
The Jarvis & Nichols store on the corner of Kasten and Main in Mendocino. The Barry Building is to the right of the store. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) July 28, 1883 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that John Barry was enlarging his barber shop on Main Street to provide more room for his shaving parlor and bath rooms. When complete, the building would be [...]
John and Joseph Granskog, behind the bar at the Eagle Saloon located on West Main Street in Mendocino, 1909. Other men are unidentified. Joseph opened up the Eagle Saloon in 1909 but lost his business shortly after when Mendocino went dry. He and his wife, Albertina, returned to Finland with their children for a visit. Albertina stayed in the old country and Joseph returned in 1912 [...]
The Shell Gas Station Building on Lansing Street in Mendocino. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) July 26, 1924 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that the Bowman & Tyrrell garage had been painted a gorgeous yellow and red. The Shell Oil Company was painting all the local garages that sold their products in the company’s vivid colors. The previous year, George Daniels tore down the original livery [...]
One-half scale replica of the bow of the clipper ship Frolic on the Kelley House lawn. This display was part of an exhibit in 1994 at the Kelley House Museum on the wreck of the Frolic on the Mendocino Coast. The Baltimore Clipper replica was created by Horace Irwin and built by Sam Waldman and Don and Wilma Tucker with a grant from the California Council for the [...]
Carlson's City Hotel, c. 1871-1886. Note the windmill behind the hotel. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) July 24, 1859 - John Edward Carlson married Elizabeth Kupp Broderick. Elizabeth, a widow, was born in County Cork, Ireland and had a 6-year-old son. They had four more children together and operated a successful hotel. John was born in Sweden on June 20, 1827. He came to California [...]
On the way to hunting camp, 1902-1906. (Steve and Sue Sanor, Gray - Nielson - Sanor Family Collection, Kelley House Photographs) July 23, 1911 - Percy Colby, an assistant in John Chambers’ blacksmith shop, had a close call with death while crossing Big River on horseback. He was on a hunting trip near the Mendocino Lumber Company’s Lower Ranch when his horse became mired in quicksand. [...]
Charlotte Hoak grew up in the wilds of Comptche, a local girl, born in 1874 on ranch land that had formerly been under the jurisdiction of the local Pomo chief, Comptche—hence the name the region became known by. Comptche is, in fact, a Pomo word that means “the valley among the hills.” It’s land the Pomo traveled through each summer on their way to the coast [...]
July 21, 1917 - Joe Nichols presented one of the first motion pictures filmed on the Mendocino Coast at his picture house inside Kellieowen Hall on the southwest corner of Ukiah and Lansing. “The Promise” featured a number of local coast residents including Mendocino Lumber Company woods boss, Ed Boyle. Scenes had been shot in several coast locations during December 1916. The Maru and log raft [...]