August 14, 1912 - A large crowd turned out to see the Columbia Park Boys Club perform at the Odd Fellows Hall on the northeast corner of Ukiah and Kasten Streets in Mendocino. This club was founded in San Francisco in December 1895 by Major Sidney S. Peixotto to help at-risk boys in the south of Market Street tenements expand their opportunities through education, theatre, music, [...]
August 11, 1913 - John Deromeri, a Mendocino Mill worker who lived in a cabin on Big River Flat, survived being run over by an automobile at the corner of Lansing and Main Streets. Cars were still a relatively new invention, and the Beacon reported that John had little use for autos. “He don’t like their looks, he don’t like their speed, and in fact he [...]
The wind-driven sawmill built and operated by William Heeser on Little Lake Road originally published July 2, 1992 One of the strangest windmills erected in the Mendocino area produced not one drop of water for a residence or a store building. It ran a sawmill. When William Heeser came to Mendocino from Napa County in 1857 to purchase for $6,000 some of the landholdings [...]
New! On the Kelley House YouTube Channel - An Afternoon with Barry Cusick & Mendocino Water Towers When the town of Mendocino was first established, water towers operating on the gravity system were the source of fresh water. To this day, water towers remain a signature part of the town's character. After arriving in Mendocino in the 1970s, Barry Cusick and a partner bought, for $1.00, [...]
Painting of Wild Roses by Elise Kelley Drexler on display in the museum from the Margaret Kelley Campbell Collection. This weekend the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is hosting its annual Art in the Gardens event, a celebration of flora that makes me think of the largely forgotten artworks of Elise Kelley Drexler. Elise was the second daughter of William and Eliza Kelley and is [...]
Ukiah Street, c. 1930. (Gift of Dolly Efishoff) Ukiah Street, 2023. (Photographer: Robert Dominy) These two images, taken almost a century apart, show Ukiah Street near the intersection with Kasten Street, looking east. In the 20th century photo, two calves belonging to the Paoli family stand on Ukiah Street in front of the Paoli Hotel, which is just out of sight [...]
July 23, 1921 - Frances Buchanan and John Harvey Ferrill were married at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. A few family members and friends attended the small ceremony, and Marie Buchanan, sister of the bride, served as bridesmaid. Frances was the daughter of Hugh and Mary (Donahue) Buchanan of Elk. John was the youngest son of Henry and Annie Ferrill, who operated the general merchandise [...]
Photo: Courtesy of Robert Dominy When Alvin Mendosa’s long-time friend, Buddy Fraser, passed away in 2018, Alvin received a copy of Buddy’s memoir of town life during World War II. Alvin recognized a little gem when he saw it, and he showed it to the curator at the Kelley House Museum. A few years passed before the document could be published, but recently it [...]
July 18, 1899 - Six-year-old Francis Allen and his ten-year-old sister Nettie posed for a studio portrait at Carpenter Studios in Fort Bragg. In addition to photos taken that day, the Kelley House Collection also includes a lock of Francis’ hair clipped in 1899. Stored in the museum’s climate-controlled vault, this curl of brown hair is about 8 inches long and is tied with a dark [...]
July 15, 1972 - A fire broke out in the Silver Walker Jewelry Shop on the second floor of the Bank of America Building at the northwest corner of Main and Kasten Streets. (Out of This World is located on the first floor of this building today.) Jewelry maker Bruce Van De Walker owned the business. Bruce worked in silver and other metals, combining them with [...]