Pomos lived along the Mendocino Coast for thousands of years prior to European settlement in 1850. Pomo simply means “the people.” In 1855, the federal government established the Mendocino Indian Reservation on 25,000 acres between the Noyo and Ten Mile Rivers, with its military headquarters located in what is now the business center of the town of Fort Bragg, ten miles north of Mendocino. It is [...]
Labor Day advertisement for Safeway in the Mendocino Beacon, 1943. Note the Red Stamp and Blue Stamp Values in the ad and the Red Points mentioned in the cartoon at the bottom. Color-coded stamps and points were part of the food rationing system put in place during World War II. Food rationing began in the spring of 1942, when government-issued food coupons were required to purchase [...]
The distinctive round Remedy Store sign outside the store’s second location at 45094 Main Street in Mendocino. The Bank of America building and Chet Bishop’s General Merchandise Store can be seen in the background. (Gift of Carl A. Moore, Lee Burleson Collection, Kelley House Photographs) In 1928, Dr. Russell Preston, beloved Mendocino physician, purchased the town’s only pharmacy, Pioneer Drug Store. There had been [...]
The British tramp steamer, Oswestry, anchored in Mendocino Bay, 1909. The Mendocino Mill can be seen in the background on Big River. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) September 4, 1909 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that five sailors had deserted the big British tramp steamer Oswestry. While the ship was anchored in Mendocino Bay, the sailors [...]
The house built by Michael Byrnes in 1884 on Little Lake Road in Mendocino. Mary Byrnes is on the left flanked by her daughters, Grace and Dorothy. Michael J. Byrnes is holding the colt. Ralph Byrnes, son of Michael and Mary, is standing by the dog, and Philip Hite is behind the fence. The house still stands at 44600 Little Lake Road. Note the "Mendocino [...]
The Kelley House Museum is on the lookout for a local stamp collector who can help them evaluate three albums of First Day Stamp Covers. An inquiring mind might ask, “What is a First Day Cover?” An example of one of the hundreds of “First Day” Stamped Envelopes saved by an unknown collector in special albums and given to the Kelley House Museum. With [...]
Vintage Doorknobs from the Larry Sawyer and Harriet Bye Collection Vintage, decorative doorknobs fill the display cases at the Kelley House Museum in the latest installment of the Coastal Collections series. Colorful, intricate, charming, and functional, this assemblage provides a peek into some of the everyday objects people handled in former days. This collection of ornate door hardware is on loan from Larry Sawyer and Harriet [...]
September 1, 1941 - Mendocino lost one of its landmarks when the Occidental Hotel, located at the junction of Lansing and Main Streets, burned down. The fire was caused by a defective flue which ignited a wall in the early morning hours. The owner of the hotel, Kate Gorman, immediately called out to her grandson Cletus Byrnes and began waking her guests. It was Labor Day [...]