Mendocino Fire Department Chief, Eugene "Foggy" Gomes, 1990. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) November 20, 1956 - Mendocino Volunteer Fire Chief Foggy Gomes added another achievement to his credit, other than being “a mere fire chief.” The Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary declared him the Champion Pie Eater of the department. When the ladies gave their annual pie feed to the volunteer firefighters, Foggy [...]
Reconstruction of the Mendosa Water Tower, 1976. The Deli Building, originally Homer’s Market and currently Flow Restaurant, is on the left. (Nicholas Wilson (photographer), Gift of Barry Cusick) In January 1976, the old water tower behind Mendosa’s general merchandise store was dismantled after it was found to be structurally unsafe. Barry Cusick, Jim Coupe, and Gus Costa salvaged what they could, transported the materials, [...]
This is a detail of a rare interior view of the parlor in the Kelley House, circa 1890. Daisy Kelley MacCallum is sitting in a wicker chair with her husband Alex standing behind her, and her daughter Jean sitting at her feet. Her posture seems to indicate she is having some trouble with her spinal injury. (Margaret Kelley Campbell Collection, Kelley House Museum archives) [...]
December 4, 2021 Family fun with Santa and a toast to William Kelley’s 200th Birthday! VISIT SANTA 3:30-4:30 PM Bring your family and your holiday good cheer to snap a perfect picture standing next to Santa on our porch! Cookies and cider provided. Suggested donation: $5 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE 5-7 PM After Santa leaves for the North Pole, join us as we toast the bicentennial birthday [...]
Photograph taken in the mid-1960s by Dutch photographer Gerrit Nagtegaal of what is now the Headlands Inn, located at 44950 Albion Street in Mendocino, on the corner of Howard Street. (Gerrit Paul Nagtegaal (photographer), Gift of Bill Brazill) The Barry Building began as a barber shop on Main Street, on the lot just east of the Jarvis & Nichols store (today's Gallery Bookshop). In [...]
November 15, 1860 - Twelve lives were lost in a terrible maritime disaster in Mendocino Bay. The brig J. S. Cabot had approached the loading chute to take on a cargo of lumber. Seeing the chute was currently in use, the captain attempted to turn back to sea but a sudden gale brought in a heavy sea from the south. Although anchors were dropped, the ship [...]
Portrait of David F. Lansing, c. 1870. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) November 14, 1877 - Captain David F. Lansing died in Mendocino. Born in Albany, New York in 1809, Lansing came to the California coast in 1849 with his wife and two oldest children. He sailed on several successful whaling voyages, and then, in 1852, Captain Lansing arrived in Mendocino in command [...]
Jennie Blair, Daisy (Kelley) MacCallum’s San Francisco socialite cousin, wore this elaborate gown when she was presented to the Court of Saint James in England. The gown features ivory silk with lace, fine embroidery, and ribbon-work wrought into flowers, baskets, and scrolls. The slashed appearance of the fabric is an unfortunate byproduct of the practice of soaking silk fabric in mineral salts to increase its heft [...]
This fourth installment in our series about the Kelley family features its matriarch, Eliza. Two tiny images in a delicate locket that belonged to Eliza Owen Kelley. Eliza is pictured on the left and would have been about 30 years old. On the right is her husband William Henry Kelley, 34 years old. We presume these photographs were taken shortly after their marriage in 1855. [...]
The original house, built by J. D. Johnson in 1881, was smaller and located farther north on the lot. After her husband, Alexander MacCallum, died in 1908, Daisy Kelley MacCallum returned to Mendocino from San Francisco, where they had been living. In 1908, she had the house moved to the center of the lot and had Alexander Carmichael build a large addition on the north side. [...]