Mendocino Masonic Hall, c. 1960. These two photographs, taken about 65 years apart, show the Masonic Hall located on the northwest corner of Lansing and Ukiah Streets in Mendocino. This historic structure, one of the oldest buildings still standing in town, was surveyed in May 1976 for the State Office of Historic Preservation by Kelley House Museum co-founder Beth Stebbins. The Mendocino Masonic Lodge, [...]
Dollard Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, standing on Main Street in Mendocino on Decoration Day, 1883. (Gift of Emery Escola) The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), founded in Springfield, Illinois in 1866, was a fraternal organization of veterans who served in the Union armed forces during the Civil War. The first GAR Commander-in-Chief, General John A. Logan, called for [...]
Years ago, I interviewed a couple who lived up Albion Ridge. They wanted to share the story of their home, a small two-story hippy hovel, totally off the grid and self-sufficient, with a big vegetable garden and lots of chickens. The history I was interested in was more supernatural: I always want to know if a house has ghosts. As it happened, this couple’s house was [...]
The Kelley House Museum’s current exhibit, Nathaniel Smith: Mendocino’s First African American Resident, was funded by a grant from California Humanities. The grant supported research by Alexander Wood into the life of Nathaniel Smith. Below is an excerpt from Wood’s paper on Smith’s arrival in, and the naming of, Cuffey’s Cove. Smith’s arrival on the Mendocino coast on a whaling ship with a Sausalito crew is [...]
Angela Lansbury wheels her bicycle past Mitch's Barber Shop on the northeast corner of Lansing and Ukiah Streets, 1988. You can’t find Cabot Cove, Maine, on any map, but like Brigadoon, it comes back to life every now and then. This coming weekend is one of those times. The Kelley House’s first annual Murder, She Wrote Festival will celebrate the memory of Angela Lansbury, [...]