February 25, 1915 - Mendocino Grammar School principal James “Jim” C. Hurley returned from a trip to San Francisco where he had taken the bar examination. The Beacon reported that, “Mr. Hurley’s friends here will be pleased to hear that he was successful in the examination and was admitted to the bar.” Jim was the second of 9 sons born to Richard and Katherine Hurley of [...]
These two images, taken about 36 years apart, show the Albert Brown House located at 45130 Little Lake Street. This house is one of four on the block sometimes referred to as “Banker’s Row,” because the residences here belonged at one time to men involved in the business and financial life of Mendocino. The Albert Brown House, c. 1987. (Kelley House Museum Archives) [...]
Helen and Anthony Lemos, from a photo album belonging to Bertha Reep Mason. (Gift of Bertha Mason) February 20, 1929 - A serious accident occurred at the grammar school just as the children were entering the school building at 9am, according to the Mendocino Beacon. Ten-year-old Helen Lemos was walking up the school steps with a friend “when she was hit on the head [...]
On this day in Mendocino history… February 18, 1972 - Lee Burleson assumed management of Gallery Fair, located on the southwest corner of Ukiah and Kasten Streets. Lee had arrived in Mendocino the year before as the bride of Postmaster Don Burleson. She had previously worked as a technical illustrator for Union Carbide in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and was also a financially successful ceramist and photographer [...]
Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher riding a bike. Likely taken in Fort Bragg. The Kelley House Museum’s current exhibition, Angela Lansbury: Muse of Cabot Cove, has brought back many wonderful memories of Lansbury and her time in Mendocino. One of our docents and celebrated local historian, Katy Tahja, shares a few of her memories from Lansbury’s time filming in Mendocino: I worked as a [...]
Happy Valentine’s Day from the Kelley House Museum! Vintage postcard addressed to Ethel Silveria of Mendocino, 1907 - 1921. (Gift of Sandra Hawthorne) Walking Tours of Historic Mendocino - Join our expert docents for a stroll and lively commentary. You’ll pass by early pioneer homes, historic meeting places, and buildings that make up the the Mendocino Historic District.
The Kelley House Museum needs your help to solve a history mystery. While cataloging a photograph album this week, we came upon a postcard with a photograph of three men standing on some lumber at a mill. There is no information about who these men are, when the photograph was taken, or even where the lumber mill is. We are left without any breadcrumbs to follow [...]
February 6, 1960 - Ethel Nelson died in a Oakland nursing home after a long illness. Born in Mendocino in 1883, she was the daughter of Elizabeth May (Bessie) Carlson and Captain Henry Nelson. Ethel’s grandfather was John Carlson, who arrived in Mendocino in 1852 on the brig Ontario which brought the first sawmill machinery to Mendocino. Bessie Carlson Nelson (center) with her children, Henry [...]
February 4, 1984 - Amati’s Shoe Boutique closed its doors for the last time after operating for more than six years on Main Street. The Main Street Courtyard Buildings, 1977-1984. Buildings on Albion Street in Mendocino at the north end of the Main Street Courtyard. The sign in the yard reads, "Amati's Mendocino." Amati's Shoe Store occupied the lower floor of the building on the [...]
Until the 1870s, the Mendocino coast was isolated except for the schooners that sailed between San Francisco and Eureka. Travel inland was on foot or by horseback over narrow ridge trails worn by the local native peoples. During the 1860s, roads began to be built between Mendocino and Ukiah and Mendocino and Cloverdale. According to Elsa E. Thompson’s 1973 Early Settlers of Comptche Along Its Many [...]