The Kelley House Museum recently opened a new exhibit—Nathaniel Smith: Mendocino’s First African American Resident. It was made possible by a grant from California Humanities to the museum, which funded research by Alexander Wood. The following is an excerpt from Wood’s report on the Smith family. Nathaniel Smith married Julia (or Julie) around 1890. Julia and both of her parents were born in California. She was [...]
March 12, 1921 - The Big River Justice Court held a trial between the Mendocino Foresters Lodge and the local chapter of the Portuguese ladies’ organization, U. P. P. E. C. The dispute was over possession of a desk and table, valued at less than $10. The trial attracted significant attention from the community, with the courtroom filled to capacity as spectators gathered to witness the [...]
March 10, 1895 - William McLean was found collapsed in front of Gus Semmler’s Saloon near the western end of Main Street about 7 am. William had been stabbed three times and died shortly afterwards, without naming his killer. Mendocino's Main Street looking westward, c. 1905-1908. On the north side, edged by a long boardwalk, are commercial buildings. The large two-story building with an enormous [...]
March 5, 1955 - Rotary dial telephone service arrived in Mendocino. Although local phone service had been established between a few businesses in 1878, and new telephone lines connected Mendocino to the outside world in 1897, the Mendocino switchboard still required human operators to connect calls until 1955. Following the switch to dial phones, operators still handled long distance calls, answered phone number lookups, took repair [...]
March 3, 1930 - Mendocino School District voters approved a school bond of $18,500 to cover the cost of constructing a new grammar school on the northeast corner of School and Pine Streets. The first grammar school building on this property, built in 1885, had burned down just three months earlier. The vote required a two-thirds majority. There was little opposition, and the final vote was [...]
February 25, 1945 - Henry Gordon, pioneer Mendocino woodsman, died at the Redwood Coast Hospital in Fort Bragg from cancer of the esophagus at the age of 76. He had been receiving treatment in the hospital for about two months. Born in Canada in 1868, Henry was the fifth of eight children born to Archibald and Susanna Gordon. He immigrated to the United States when he [...]
February 19, 1945 - Former Mendocino resident Joseph “Joe” Lawrence died in Oakland at the age of 50. Born in 1894 to Joseph and Mary (Farro) Lawrence, early-day residents of Mendocino, Joe grew up in his parents’ home on Ukiah Street and attended the local schools. Mendocino Grammar School Second Grade Class, c. 1900. They are posed on the steps of the first schoolhouse located [...]
February 16, 1983 - Longtime Mendocino resident Joe Recardo died at the Ukiah Street home of his great-niece Joyce Corvin following a long illness. Joe was born in Santa Cruz, Island of Flores, Azore Islands on October 30, 1899, the son of Joao Jose Coelho and Conceicao Leonor Ramos. He immigrated in 1920, landing in Providence, Rhode Island and traveling by train to California. He worked [...]
Mineral water bottle, embossed with "G. M. Henderson's Bonanza Mineral Water Mendocino, Cal.” (Western Bottle News) February 13, 1938 - J. Albert Henderson died at his home on Little Lake Road following a stroke at the age of 72. He was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1865, and after his mother’s death, he was sent to live with his aunt, Anna Jane Henderson [...]
February 10, 1883 - James A. Severance passed away at the Navarro Ridge Hotel following a stroke just 5 days before his 47th birthday. The hotel was owned by his eldest brother Haskett, and James lived there with his brother’s family. Buildings on Navarro Ridge, c. 1900. The Navarro Ridge Hotel is the two-story building on the right, and to its left is a short [...]