Do you love learning about your town and talking with people curious about Mendocino’s past? The Kelley House Museum is searching for some new folks to docent in the museum or offer walking tours of the town. The job is easier than you may think! Juliet Way sports a Victorian outfit for her walking tours, but other guides wear whatever they put on that morning. [...]
Brown Sisters and Family, c. 1941. Back row: Mayme Brown, Art Lemos, Mae Lemos, Annie Brown Stone, Emily Brown Lemos. Front row: Carrie Brown Redmayne, Tom Lemos, Patricia Lemos, and Mary Redmayne. On May 11, 1885, Annie L. Brown was born in Mendocino. Her parents were John Q. and Maria Brown, immigrants from the Azore Islands and early day settlers of Mendocino. John and [...]
May 10, 1895 - Dr. William McCornack and pharmacist Herman Baum purchased Mrs. Murray’s drug store, located on Main Street across from the Ford House. A clause in the purchase contract stated that the property could be used for any activity, "excepting for saloon use or immoral purposes.” I.D.E.S. Drill Team, 1925 - 1933. Photograph of I.D.E.S. (Irmandade di Espirito Santo, Brotherhood of the Holy [...]
Henry Reed Ferrill and son, John, in his general merchandise store in Albion, 1910 - 1915. A pile of pants are folded behind John and father, Henry, stands behind the counter. A wide brim hat hangs on the wall and several boots hang from the ceiling. Numerous shoe boxes are stacked in the background, some made by "Buckingham & Hecht,” a large San Francisco shoe [...]
Four Generations of the Flood-Escola Family in Mendocino, 1948. Four generations starting with Rose Watkins Flood, who is seated in this photo. Standing behind Rose, on the right, is Rose’s daughter, Nannie Flood Escola, and on the left, is Nannie’s daughter, Dorothy Escola Schlafer. Dorothy's son (Rose’s great-grandson) Steve Schlafer, standing in front. Photograph taken in 1948 at the Flood home in Mendocino, located on Pine [...]
Personal Expressions, 1974 In July 1893, construction began on the Kelley Baptist Church building on Ukiah Street. The church was dedicated in June 1894 by the Reverend J. S. Ross, and the building was in use until about 1936. Although it was still owned by Kelley family descendants at that time, the church sat vacant for almost 40 years. Corners of the Mouth, [...]
As I was strolling through Hillcrest Cemetery the other day, I counted up all the languages spoken by the people buried there. In the early days, immigrants came to the Mendocino Coast from nearly every corner of the world, leaving behind their mother lands, but bringing with them their mother tongues. Judging from the birthplaces inscribed in the tombstones in Hillcrest, you could have heard snatches [...]
Big River Mill Crew, 1910. Cropped from a framed panoramic photograph of the Mendocino Lumber Company employees at Big River. The cookhouse is the building on the far right. Left to Right: Russell Anderson, John Larson, unidentified, unidentified, Ted Hanson, Frank Pacheco, Joe Brown, Charlie Escola, Louie Larsen, Joe Caroll, Frank Corria, Joe King Sr., Tony Fraga, John Silveria, Arthur Mathews Silva, Sam Bever, Frank [...]
Schooners in Mendocino Harbor, 1865. Two sailing ships at the Mendocino shipping point are being loading with lumber. A lighter, or loading boat, is in the water near the apron chutes on the right. Kent's Point (later Chapman's Point) is visible in the background. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) In the Spring of 1884, the Mendocino Lumber Company hired Captain J. Palmer, an [...]
Two women and a man, holding on to each other, as they cross over Jughandle trestle above Jughandle Creek, c. 1890. There was no roadway on top, only rails and ties, so it was scary business walking out on it. Nonetheless, people did, as this photograph shows. (Gift of Verda Wakerley Winney, Harry J. Wakerley Collection, Kelley House Photographs) The Jughandle Creek trestle was [...]