June 3, 1935 - Former resident Roland Smith died in Sacramento. Roland had first arrived in Mendocino as a traveling evangelist in 1921. At the time, he was visiting towns all over the state, driven by a deep desire to share the old-time Gospel with people across California. In June 1921, Roland held a series of nondenominational revival meetings at the Kelley Baptist Church (where Corners [...]
Napoleon Bonaparte Bever & Horse Team, c. 1902. Photograph of Napoleon Bonaparte Bever with a three-horse team hauling lumber-filled railroad cars from the Mendocino Lumber Mill located on Big River Flat to the Incline where the cars would be pulled up the bluff and out to the Shipping Point. Behind Mr. Bever is the mill and its associated buildings, including the ninety-foot high, million-brick chimney that [...]
May 22, 1878 - Fred Kunkel produced 70,000 bricks at his new Mendocino brick yard. The brick maker pressed locally-sourced clay into wooden molds by hand to form the bricks. The process of manufacturing a kiln full of bricks was a months-long endeavor, and the Beacon closely followed Fred's progress. Mendocino Lumber Company Mill on Big River Flat, 1890 - 1898. The third Mendocino lumber [...]
May 16, 1903 - The wagon of traveling salesman Xerxes A. Phillips was broken into while it was parked in front of Switzer & Boyd’s stable, which was located on the northwest corner of Albion and Lansing Streets. According to the Beacon, “A box containing about seventy-five ladies’ shirt waists [blouses] was taken and about a dozen pairs of shoes were missing.” Peddler and Wagon [...]
May 9, 1922 - James Baskerville passed away suddenly from a heart attack, after suffering from heart trouble for the previous two years. About 18 months before his death, he travelled to San Francisco to consult with a heart specialist who diagnosed his ailment as angina pectoris and “told him he could hope for no permanent relief.” Born in Devonshire, England in 1848, James was the [...]
These two images, taken about 35 years apart, show the west and north sides of the Lansing House water tower located at 44900 Main Street in Mendocino. The Lansing House Water Tower, c. 1988. The west side of the McCornack House (Mendocino Village Inn in 1988) is visible on the left. The Lansing House Water Tower, 2023. The west side of the [...]
Only 2 days left to get tickets for the Angela Lansbury event! Did you know that Murder Ridge Winery, one of the sponsors of our Friday fundraiser, has a dark history behind its name? The land where the vineyard is located was once the site of a century-old murder that shocked the Anderson Valley community. In November 1910, Joe Cooper, a well-known pioneer of Anderson Valley, [...]
Speakers Jill Lemos, daughter of Mendocino's Film Coordinator Toni Lemos, and Steve Jordan, local talent who appeared in several filming productions, share their reminiscences about Angela Lansbury as well as tales from their experiences with "Murder, She Wrote" and filming in Mendocino in general. This event took place on February 25, 2023, and was filmed by Maynard Kaminsky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EUKd3OUnRg Join us for a special tribute [...]
The 1868 May Day celebration was held at Ford's Orchard, also known as the Company Orchard, which was located on the south side of Little Lake Road near Clark Street in the eastern area of Mendocino. Jerome B. Ford lived in the small cabin he built here until the Ford House on Main Street was completed in 1854, following his marriage to Martha Hayes. Their daughter Catherine [...]
April 29, 1878 - A destructive fire burned the Big River House Hotel to the ground. This hotel was located on the north side of Main Street, east of Woodward Street. The flames spread quickly to an adjoining building which housed W. T. Wilson’s restaurant and saloon. That building was also destroyed. These structures weren’t rebuilt. Big River House Hotel, c. 1877. A group of [...]