Photograph of the Portuguese men’s organization known as I. D. E. S. (Irmandade di Espirito Santo, Brotherhood of the Holy Ghost). In 1910 the membership roster noted there were 73 members. This organization had its own marching band and drill team, as shown in the photo. 

Group of uniformed man marching down street

They are standing on Main Street in Mendocino in front of Dr. Carl Vincent Whited’s bungalow-style home, which houses Prentice Gallery today. Dr. Whited’s dental office is the building with the flat roof to the right (today’s Mendocino Chocolate Company). In 1924, these two buildings were constructed on the site of the old Alhambra Hotel by Dr. Whited’s father, Charles Whited, a builder and architect from Willits.

The long two-story building on the far right was built in the 1870s as a saloon. In 1912, William Heisel opened his shoe store in this building, which was then taken over at his death in 1913 by his brother, Joseph Heisel. The building was demolished in 1941 by owner Don Fenn. Homer and Lillian Drinkwater purchased this property in 1947 and hired Henry Canclini to build a grocery store that they ran until the early 1970s. Flow Restaurant now occupies the second floor of the Homer’s Market building.

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