A hand-colored promotional postcard created for the Fort Bragg Drug Store showing buildings along Lansing Street in Mendocino in 1906. The photograph from which this postcard was made was probably taken from the second floor of the Occidental Hotel, located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Lansing and Main Streets.
The building on the lower left side of the image (and which fronts Main Street) was originally William H. Kelley’s store, built in 1871. At this time, it was occupied by Brown & Gray’s General Merchandise. The sign above the door near the north end of the building reads, “Brown & Gray” and was probably the door to their office. In 1979, the 100+ year-old building was torn down and replaced with a similar structure.
Proceeding up the street north of the store building is the front gate and landscaped yard of Kelley’s own house (not visible here).
Crossing Albion Street there is Switzer & Boyd’s Livery Stables, originally Kelley’s Fashion Stables, and built in 1872. It was torn down in 1923 and replaced with a Shell gas station and garage.
Up the street, in a building with a stepped false front, was another Kelley structure built by him in 1886 as a dance hall and skating rink. In 1888 it became Tivoli Hall, a large amusement hall with a saloon and restaurant. At the time this picture was taken, the saloon was gone, and it was known as Temperance Hall. It would become Kellieowen Hall in 1950.
Next is the Masonic Lodge with its distinctive rooftop statuary, which was finished in 1872. The small building with a red roof beyond it was constructed in 1901 as a pool hall and saloon by Nels Peter Anderson.
Proceeding northward and across Little Lake Street, the structure with a sign reading “Blacksmith” was the location for Emil Seman’s blacksmith and wheelwright business, in operation until about 1947.
At the top of the hill is the newly constructed Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church and Monastery. It burned in 1930 and was replaced the next year with a smaller church building.
The three water towers that appear in this image are no longer present. The tower on the far left was located on Albion Street behind the Switzer and Boyd Livery. The tower with the windmill in the image’s center was located on Calpella Street, and owned by Kelley, but was originally built by engineer Gebhard Hagenmeyer. The white tower to its right is J. D. Johnson’s and was located between Calpella and Ukiah Streets, next to his undertaking and carpentry buildings.
In the background on the hill sits the first Mendocino High School, built in 1894. Its water tower can be seen peeking above its roof. It was replaced in 1949 by a new structure placed on the former site, which was lowered eight feet.
Today! Two Walking Tours – Historic District @11AM and Haunted Mendocino @1:30PM. Tickets