View looking northwest of cultivated fields and rural houses south of Big River, taken c. 1900 by A. O. Carpenter, according to a note on the back of the photo. The town of Mendocino is in the background. In the foreground a pile of sawn boards lies on the ground. Fields are enclosed with a variety of fencing materials, including vertical split pickets, horizontal split rails, [...]
Archaeology Specialist, Emily Carleton (right), at the Evergreen Cemetery gravesite. April 23, 2013 - The remains of a 19th-century “Unknown Sailor” were re-interred in Evergreen Cemetery, approximately 150 years after his death. His skeleton had been discovered buried in a redwood coffin on the bluff at the edge of the Mendocino headlands. Katy Tahja reported for the Beacon, “On April 21, 1986, a hiker [...]
Wagon at the Occidental Hotel, 1892-1893. The hotel's livery stable is on the left, and its water tower and windmill are behind the structures. The steeple of the Mendocino Presbyterian church is visible on the far left. April 22, 1899 - The Occidental Hotel’s livery stable was destroyed by fire. Shortly after 5 am, heavy smoke was discovered coming from the roof of the [...]
On display at the Kelley House Museum’s current exhibit are several clay pipes. Most are incomplete – missing a stem or the bowl – but are nonetheless intriguing – as are the old glass bottles and other remnants of an earlier times that we have dug out of our archives for this show, “Neighbors Across The Pond.” A white clay smoking pipe with copper [...]
(Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) Main Street, Mendocino, 1966, near the corner of Main and Kasten Streets, looking west. A Volkswagen Bug automobile is parked on the street. Behind it is the Bank of America in the two-story white structure on the west side of Kasten. Dostal's Clock Shop (note sign) occupies the Jarvis & Nichols Building on the east side of Kasten [...]
Elevated view of the town of Mendocino c. 1909. View is looking southeastward from the corner of Lansing and Main Streets, and probably taken from the Kelley water tower. Power poles are on both sides of Main Street. In the immediate foreground is the roof of the old Kelley Building. Right front is the Occidental Hotel with a water tower and windmill behind it. Traveling east [...]
Wreck of the Smilax, 1923. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) April 18, 1923 - A fatal train wreck occurred on the Caspar Railroad when the Caspar Lumber Company engine “Smilax” derailed after hitting two horses on the Digger Creek trestle. The engine was bringing in twelve loaded cars of logs, when the crew spotted the two horses on the tracks about 9 pm. [...]
Children on the steps of the Mendocino Presbyterian Church, Easter 1948. This photo may have been taken after an egg hunt, as just about everyone has a bag - some more full than others! If you can identify someone in this photograph, please be sure to let us know! (Gift of Jeanette Hansen, Jeanette Mendosa Hansen Collection, Kelley House Photographs) April 17, 1927 - [...]
Musicians in Mendocino holding pets, 1876. From left to right: L. A. Morgan, John Edward Carlson, Galey Gray, and Charles Gray. Each man is holding either a cat or a dog. (Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) April 16, 1899 - One of Mendocino’s earliest pioneers, John Edward Carlson passed away in San Francisco at the home of his son [...]
Competition is native to the American character. To be first seems of great value. First at the clam chowder cook-off, first in Little League, first in line. Historians prattle about who or what was first. So, let's prattle about the trains that once rattled through town, carrying lumber to the Point. A photograph of a stereograph showing the Incline on the tramway from the Big [...]