The funeral of Antone Valadao on March 14, 1907 on Calpella Street east of the intersection with Williams Street in Mendocino. Structures visible in this image include the Antone Pereira House (10580 Williams), rear center; the Osborne-Jerome House (45150 Calpella) to its right; then the Valadao-Mamie Brown House (45130 Calpella). The small building on the lower right is a shed originally associated with the Joseph [...]
Color photo postcard of the entrance to the Fireside Shop on Main Street in Mendocino. Erma Gillespie operated her antiques store in this location from about 1966 to 1970, when she moved it upstairs above Dostal's Clock Shop. To the right is a double-tank water tower that has serviced these buildings for many decades, and the studio below it constructed in 1964 by Bill Zacha, [...]
A color postcard of the Mendocino Presbyterian Church, looking southwest from Main Street and showing the north and east sides of the church, 1950-1960. The entrance to the church is located on the south side facing the bay. Albert Maxwell built this beautifully preserved English Gothic structure out of native redwood, milled in Mendocino. Construction began on October 7, 1867, and the finished structure [...]
A typical way to date unmarked photos is by studying the people or objects in an image. Hairstyles, hats, and even clothing are all accurate markers of period and time, and the Kelley House archives abound with examples of austere families, their children trussed up in their Sunday best, their expressions suggesting that life was ever a dull moment. Kenneth “Beans” Fleming of Caspar, wearing [...]
Photograph of the Jarvis & Nichols Building, located on the north side of Main Street in Mendocino. It has been exuberantly draped with bunting and decorated with flags for the July 4th, 1907 Parade and Celebration. The view is looking to the northeast and is taken from the second floor of the Meat Market on the south side of Main Street. Four men in hats appear [...]
March 8, 1916 - A number of young boys were taken before Judge William True Wallace at the Big River Justice Court. The lads were accused of tampering with the switches that controlled the street lights, turning them on and off at will. In addition, the local electric company had suffered considerable annoyance and financial loss by boys shooting and breaking the street lamps’ glass. The [...]
Studio photograph of the Kenny - Boyle family, c. 1888. Seated in front, L to R: Thomas Kenny (step-father) and Mary Brien Boyle Kenny, mother of the children. Standing in back, L to R: Mary "Mayme" Burke, Charles "Charlie" Boyle, Francis "Babe" Brooks, Jennifer "Jennie" Jennings, and Walter "Fred" Boyle. (William and Marie Ferrill Collection) March 7, 1940 - Charles Boyle died at his [...]
Photograph of people loaded in an open wagon with a three-horse team in front of the Occidental Hotel on Main Street in Mendocino. Other people are on the porch and balcony of the hotel. 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. The [...]
The wedding of Fernando Maurice Fraga and Elise Marian Pimentel on May 7, 1916 in Mendocino. The two families gathered for a photograph. March 4, 1975 - Fernando Fraga passed away at his home on Calpella Street at the age of 83. He had been a Mendocino resident for 65 years and worked for the Union Lumber Company for 50 years prior to [...]
Sanborn Map of 1890 showing the location of an early Chinese laundry near the corner of Redwood Avenue and Macpherson Street in Fort Bragg. (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California . Sanborn Map Company, Nov, 1890. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn00551_001/.) The earliest documentation of the Chinese presence in Mendocino County is clearly shown in the town of Mendocino. It would seem the natural [...]