Dodge & Armas Barbershop, Mendocino, 1903-1912. Ruel Armas (left), cuts the hair of Fred Brown. On the right, Lee Dodge, stands next to client, Ed Boyle. March 19, 1938 - Ruel Rodgers Armas, a former resident of Mendocino, died at his home in Oakland. Born in Boston in 1873, his parents moved their family to Mendocino when he was just a year old. “It [...]
Photograph of Justin Nelson and Chester Barry bottling beer at the Ocean View Bottling Works, also known as Brewery Gulch Bottling Works, in Mendocino. Chester and Justin were half-brothers, and Chester was the operator of the brewery. March 18, 1925 - Chester L. Barry passed away in Mendocino at the home of his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Knacke. He had been [...]
While many people are familiar with the internment camps for people of Japanese ancestry that the US government established during World War II, few folks realize this was not the only group incarcerated in California. Residents of Mendocino County born in Germany or Italy were also considered “enemy aliens.” Pete and Rosa Piccolotti posing at their Big River ranch in 1930 with their children: Ida, [...]
MacCallum Residence, c. 1950. Black & White photograph taken by Ray Wolfe from the south side of Main Street looking over the Kelley House pond to the MacCallum House. Visible to the right of the house is the MacCallum water tower, then the Hegenmeyer water tower (torn down around 1970), and then the Eliza Kelley Baptist Church (Corners of the Mouth in 2022). An unpainted wooden [...]
The Kelley House Museum is interested in collecting materials related to the 1970s band Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys for an exhibit in Summer 2022. We are looking for pictures, posters, flyers, music, videos, or memorabilia for consideration as part of the show. If you were there and have something to share, please contact programs@kelleyhousemuseum.org for more information! All submissions will be handled with care [...]
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 [...]