It is going to be a difficult Thanksgiving for many residents of Mendocino County and those neighboring areas hit hardest by the recent fires. As an organization dealing in history, it might be instructive to look at one aspect of why the Kelley House Museum is here: keeping Mendocino’s past alive for today and its present alive for the future. This photograph of the Ford family, [...]
There used to be a pretty exciting center of entertainment in Mendocino. The establishment, located on the corner of Ukiah and Lansing Streets at Kelliowen Hall, was owned by Joseph H. Nichols. Candy could be purchased, movies viewed and patrons could practice their skating skills. There was also a pool room for the men of the town. On November 20, 1909, the Beacon reported that Mr. [...]
It is a privilege to work with the collections at the Kelley House Museum. Once in a while we run across a photograph which resonates on multiple levels. Such was the case with this image. Five young boys are gathered on a bridge, with a mill (probably that of the Albion Lumber Company) in the background. Three out of the five boys have reading material in [...]
One of the men who arrived in Mendocino and helped establish it was John Edward Chalfant. Like so many others, he came to California during the heady days of the Gold Rush. He wasn’t successful as a miner, but he happened to run into Jerome B. Ford in San Francisco. Mr. Chalfant married Martha Hayes Ford’s sister, Susan. They settled in to a life on the [...]
We don’t know who took the picture, but we know when and where it was taken. On Halloween 1954, a trio of teenage boys got together at the Westport Store wearing hats, scarves and blackface. The photograph is important because it shows an era when the use of blackface was nothing out of the ordinary. The young men in the photograph were identified, but it seems [...]
Ethel Silvera’s 1919 graduation portrait Health care, education, transportation infrastructure, and youthful employment are all issues found in today’s headlines. These are mutual concerns, which affect us all and are part of the human experience. They also figure in the sadly brief life story of Ethel Silvera, who lived and died on the Mendocino Coast early in the 20th century. As with much of history, Ethel’s [...]
In October of 1891, a particular form of entertainment came to town. The Pawnee Medicine Company provided “free entertainments in Murray’s Hall” in Mendocino. The editions of the Mendocino Beacon for both Saturdays, October 10 and 17, included brief mentions of the show. In the first story, readers of the Beacon learned that the Pawnee Medicine Company’s performers had begun their circuit the previous Tuesday and [...]
Any organization that has been around for a while acquires a history. The Kelley House Museum has a relationship with the Mendocino Coast, as a non-profit devoted to history itself. While there’s the story of the house -- the Kelley family, the town of Mendocino, its life and times, which now span three different centuries -- there’s also the history of this organization. It began with [...]
While researching online for this article, I searched for the date when telephone service first came to Mendocino County. All sorts of hits came up, but alas, they addressed the issue of cellular service! Much of Mendocino County is still known for its remoteness, and one website actually stated that residents and visitors alike can tell when they’ve entered the confines of the county by the [...]
by Sarah Nathe It is generally accepted that reunions are about people. You take a trip back to a place where you once lived in order to spend a couple of days with people you haven’t seen for awhile: family members, classmates, teammates, military buddies, work colleagues, summer camp friends. You spend most of the time “catching up” and reminiscing about the great times you had [...]