September 4, 1930 - A big crowd turned out for the first night of roller skating at the skating rink on the southwest corner of Lansing and Ukiah Streets. The Beacon reported that “The opening night was well attended and there were a large number of skaters on the floor most of the evening.” The skating sessions, managed by Joseph Scheper, would operate on Wednesday, Thursday, [...]
Saint Anthony's Catholic Church, 1906-1930. The first Saint Anthony's in Mendocino with the monastery in the rear. September 2, 1906 - Very Reverend Father Anthony Brennan, Provincial Superior of the Capuchin Franciscans, dedicated the order’s newly completed monastery adjacent to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church on Lansing Street. He also unveiled the Statue of St. Anthony of Lisbon, a gift from A. L. Gonsalves of Melburne. Builder [...]
I recently completed my time as the collections intern at the Kelley House Museum as part of my MA in Museum Studies coursework at the University of San Francisco. The project I was assigned was to help catalog a collection left to the museum by a descendant of the Kelley family, Rosemary Maulbetsch, the great-granddaughter of William and Eliza Kelley, who passed away in 2017. The [...]
Photograph capturing a view looking northwest in Mendocino taken by Perley Maxwell, probably from a water tower on Albion Street. The large two-story building is the second Odd Fellows Hall, located on the northeast corner of Ukiah and Kasten Streets. It was partially demolished in 1955 and turned into apartments and offices. To its right is the hall's out house, which still stands in 2022. A [...]
August 29, 1887 - H. E. Wilkinson, a clerk for the United States Signal Service, arrived in Mendocino to install a weather station. This station was one of ten set up thru a partnership between the Signal Service and the San Francisco Chronicle. The other locations were San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Rosa, Yreka, San Bernardino, Modesto, Bakersfield, Indio, and Carson City, Nevada. View of [...]
August 28, 1937 - The high school’s new gymnasium was dedicated with a dance that was open to the public. The Beacon reported that almost 550 people attended the dance, which was sponsored by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). The PTA President was Mamie Mendosa. First Mendocino High School Gym, c. 1954 Dancing started about 9 o’clock, and “the floor is in excellent shape and [...]
In 1887, Charles Denslow, bookkeeper for the Mendocino Lumber Company, purchased this lot on the northwest corner of Kasten and Calpella Streets. Denslow moved an existing small house north onto an adjoining property, and master carpenter J. D. Johnson built this house on the south end of the lot. Undated photo of the Denslow-Maxwell House. Note its distinctive round window and brick chimney top, the [...]
August 24, 1912 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that a shipment of 3,000 pounds of huckleberries had been sent to San Francisco. The editorial suggested that the huckleberry had “a distinct place as a pie fruit and for other purposes, and the apparent good demand seems to bear out this conclusion.” “There are thousands of acres of these berries along this coast, and in most cases [...]
When Beth Stebbins and Dorothy Bear of Mendocino Historical Research accepted the generous gift of the Kelley family property in April 1975, they received more than just the house and grounds. There was also a resident feline, described in the July 31, 1975 issue of the Beacon. “Then there is the Kelley cat. She is small, black with white markings and naturally, was pregnant when we [...]
August 20, 1860 - Patrick Padden purchased a lot on Main Street, west of Kasten, where the Mendocino Jewelry Store is located in 2022. Here, he built and operated Mendocino's second saloon. West Main Street, c. 1865. View of the west end of Main Street in Mendocino looking northeast before the fire of 1870 destroyed this part of town. A group of men gather in [...]