A Mystery School in Albion Why is it a mystery? Because if you check in “What Became of the Little Red Schoolhouse” Volume 1-Mendocino Area, there is no school pictured that looks like this one. Behind the schoolhouse, it looks like the coastline, but it could be a bluff top inland. And, of course, if I have five of the six volumes that make up the [...]
This photograph from our archives of a young woman wearing a plain blouse and looking at the camera with what seems to be unabashed honesty is one of our Kelley House Museum “history mysteries.” Something about the style of the blouse, the way her hair has been pulled back and the clarity of the photograph made us think that it might be of sufficiently recent vintage [...]
We recently received a request from the daughter of this handsome guy, and it represents a switch in that we know who the person is, but we don’t know for certain WHERE he is. The WHEN is also somewhat undetermined, but she thinks the photograph was taken around 1930. This is Clifford Chapman, who attended Mendocino High School and worked in the Mendocino Mill. Clifford’s daughter, [...]
[Note: this mystery has been solved. See this article.] We’re all familiar with the grade school photographs our parents have tucked away, and which sometimes come out for reunions. Our latest history mystery involves seven children, photographed on the steps of Manchester Union School, probably during the 1940s. There are five boys, two girls; those in the second row are flanking their principal/teacher, Mrs. Alma Jacobs [...]
This photograph was part of the Eleanor Sverko Collection but has no identifying information. Eleanor Feodora Stolpe Sverko was born on August 20, 1920. She was the daughter of Finnish immigrants, Johannes (John) and Regina Stolpe who settled in Greenwood/Elk. Many Finnish settled there as well as Comptche to work in the mills. They probably all knew each other. Perhaps this photograph is of a family [...]
Yearbooks for schools are valuable research tools, containing names and photographs of young people from their freshman to senior year of high school. We can learn what clubs they belonged to and what sports they played. We end up with a snapshot of time when they were young, good-looking, healthy and hopeful. Although the first Mendocino High School graduating class was 1896, the first yearbook was [...]
This portrait of a woman in her late 20’s or early 30’s portrays her as a serious person, with a sensible haircut, glasses and an understated pearl necklace. The name on the photograph says “Hazel Pruett.” We are wondering why Hazel’s photograph is in the collection of the Kelley House Museum. Ancestry.com lists a Hazel Pruett born October 8, 1890 in Ukiah to Robert and Cangrada [...]
A group of several unidentified men and women, possibly residents of Fort Bragg, CA, stand in the doorway of a building. The building could have been located at the corner entrance to one of the hotels on Redwood Avenue. The number on the building appears to be 424. Speculation has been that it is a new business or, since the people look as if they are [...]
This photograph looks as if it was taken in the 1920s. It appears to be a performance or presentation at the Company Store in Fort Bragg. What ARE these women up to? Do you know the answer? Can you identify anyone? [kh_mystery_blurb subject="Coneheads"]