On this day in Mendocino history… Photograph and pennant commemorating the service of the Frank Mendosa Family during World War I. The pennant was presented to Frank Mendosa, Sr. for having five sons serve in the Armed Forces during a time of war. On the left side is an official photograph of President Woodrow Wilson, and on the right side is the pennant of white satin [...]
The Piccolotti Family. Parents Pete and Rosa pose with seven of their eight children, c. 1930. Youngest child, Alice, was born in 1931. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) August 23, 1889 - Pete Piccolotti was born in Crespano, Italy. He immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island, New York in 1907. Three years later, Rosa Vagliana also arrived at Ellis Island from Italy. Individually, [...]
The Bank of Commerce at the corner of Main and Kasten Streets in Mendocino, 1908. Note the concrete sidewalks along its street frontage. The "Bank House" can be seen behind it to the right, while the top of the bank's water tower is visible above the roof. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) August 22, 1905 - Mendocino Bank of Commerce incorporation papers [...]
Stauer's Blacksmith Shop & Othmer Paint Shop on Lansing Street in Mendocino, 1885-1888. A group of men pose in front of the Wagon & Blacksmith shop with a collection of carriages and wagons. To the left of the blacksmith shop is George Othmer's Sign and Carriage painting business. A white picket fence encloses the corner yard where Ukiah and Lansing Street intersect. The building on the [...]
On this day in Mendocino history… Interior of the east end of the lodge room in the Masonic Hall in Mendocino, 1960. The Master of the lodge sits in the front center. The Secretary's desk is on the right, and the altar stands in the center. This photograph was taken by the National Park Service for the Historic American Building Survey. (Jack E. Boucher (Photographer), Kelley [...]
Out of the Kelley House Archives comes the story of Miss Ethel Nelson, born in Mendocino 1883, daughter of Elizabeth May (Bessie) Carlson and Captain Henry Nelson, owner of the Wilson Hotel on Main Street in Mendocino, as well as ship captain for the barkentine, Servia. Henry and Bessie married in Mendocino on January 18, 1882. Portrait by A. O. Carpenter of cousins Edith Nichols (left) [...]
Portion of Heeser Survey Map of the Town of Mendocino, 1868. (Gift of Vince Johnson, Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Documents) August 17, 1868 - William Heeser began conducting a land survey of the town of Mendocino, by order of the County Judge. His survey map was recorded with the Mendocino County Clerk, James Fowzer, on March 18, 1869. Heeser was a land surveyor and mapped [...]
August 16, 1890 - J. D. Johnson was completing construction of a second cottage on the north side of Ukiah street between Lansing and Howard streets. Two years earlier, he had purchased part of Maria Walsh’s lot, just west of her house on the northwest corner of Ukiah and Howard streets. Houses on the north side of Ukiah Street in Mendocino, 1934. The house on the [...]
The steam schooner Phoenix at Mendocino. (Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) August 15, 1910 - The boiler exploded on the steam schooner Phoenix, killing four men including the Chief Engineer and Second Mate. The Phoenix was headed to San Francisco, making its way slowly southward against a brisk breeze in a choppy sea. The explosion occurred a little after 9pm about ten miles [...]
Photo of ship passengers boarding a barge using ropes and pulleys at the Shipping Point in Mendocino between 1883 and 1902. One woman is being lowered in a chair. Another man is climbing down a rope ladder while several men stand on what appears to be a stack of lumber in the barge below him. In the background the Mendocino Headlands rise above a beach then [...]