October 31, 1948 - The old water tank at the Ford House crashed to the ground with a roar that could be heard for many blocks. The tank and tower had recently been inspected for safety, and the cause of the collapse was unknown. Photograph of the west and south sides Ford House and its water tower in Mendocino, California, looking northeast, 1929-1938. A fenced [...]
Portrait of Lauriston Avery Morgan, undated. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) October 30, 1899 - Lauriston Avery Morgan died at his home in Mendocino, following a long illness. He was born in Connecticut in 1846, and came to California with his parents in 1852. The family lived in Sacramento and San Francisco before settling in Noyo in 1862. As a young adult, Morgan [...]
West end of Main Street in Mendocino looking northwest, c. 1868. A group of men gather in front of William Kelley's General Store and the Coffee Saloon. Tank Alley is the space between these two buildings. The large water tank house behind the buildings was accessed through Tank Alley. J. D. Murray's Drug Store is on the left. The buildings on this block of Main [...]
The Kelley House may be one of the jewels in Mendocino’s quaint Victorian crown, but it took a lot of work over almost fifty years by many generous people to make it look this good. When Beth Stebbins and Dorothy Bear first clapped eyes on it in 1969, it was dilapidated and, in Stebbins’ words, “very unprepossessing.” A rental property since pioneer Eliza Owen Kelley followed [...]
J. A. Chambers Wagon and Blacksmith Shop on Lansing Street, between Albion and Ukiah Streets, in Mendocino, c. early 1900s. A large horseshoe hangs over the front door. This location became the Mendocino Volunteer Fire House. Standing in front: L - R: Rayford Andrews, John Chambers and Matthew Dunn. The two-story building in the background is the Barry-Wilson-Switzer-Strauss House, moved to this location in 1893. [...]
Mendocino High School, 1900-1920. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) October 26, 1893 - The steamer Point Arena delivered 10,000 bricks for the foundation of the first Mendocino High School. 20,000 additional bricks were expected to arrive soon. Work had begun just that week on the 4.5-acre hilltop parcel donated by William Heeser for the high school. [...]
Jerome Bursley Ford. (Gift of Alice Earl Wilder, Alice Earl Wilder Collection, Kelley House Photographs) October 24, 1889 - Jerome Bursley Ford, the first lumber company man to arrive in Mendocino, died at his home in Oakland. He was one of the original pioneers who settled the town, and he was instrumental in the establishment of the Mendocino Lumber Company. Ford is generally considered [...]
Airplane in Hansen's Field, looking north, 1920. On June 6, 1920, Dayton Murray and his Curtiss Jenny biplane landed on Hansen's Field in South Caspar and offered rides for $5.00. (Gift of Mae Johnson, Mae Johnson Collection, Kelley House Photographs) October 23, 1919 - Dayton Murray, a former Mendocino resident, flew down from Eureka, a distance of 120 miles, in just 77 minutes to [...]
“W. H. Kelly now in the house.” A view of the south and west sides of the Kelley House c. 1880. This early stereopticon photograph shows the house, which looks much as it is today, with the kitchen addition on the west, and painted a light color with white trim. An unpainted Mendocino-style picket fence runs along Main Street. The small octagonal building on the [...]
Preserving history comes in many forms. You might keep photo albums (remember those?), create scrapbooks, save letters and journals, or collect ephemera and heirlooms that help tell the story of you and your family. What is the best way to safeguard these treasures for the future? Small objects like photographs or letters can be easy to preserve with the proper archival storage materials and a cool, [...]