Thomas Petersen Shipyard at Little River, with schooners under construction, c. 1875. The ship on the left is nearing completion while the other has been planked up to the deck and her bulwarks ready for planking. The shipyard was located on the side of Little River Harbor. (Gift of Cora Hervilla, Ole and Cora Hervilla Collection, Kelley House Photographs) September 15, 1878 - The [...]
J. D. Johnson's Water Tower, 1948. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) J. D. Johnson, the prolific Mendocino building contractor, built this water tower on his property just north of the Masonic Hall on Lansing Street in June 1885 to furnish water to his nearby construction and undertaking buildings. By January 1949, the tank had not been used for a number of years, and [...]
The south side of the Ford House facing Mendocino Bay, c. 1867. (Gift of Alice Earl Wilder, Alice Earl Wilder Collection, Kelley House Photographs) Jerome B. Ford was one of the pioneers who came to Mendocino in 1852 to establish the lumber mill at Big River. In April 1854, he returned to Connecticut to marry Martha Hayes. They arrived back in Mendocino on July [...]
Apple Fair Parade, c. 1913. Apple Fair Parade in front of Apple Hall on Kasten Street in Mendocino. The driver is James Bowman. Next to him is Joshua Grindle. In the rear seat, left to right: John Ross, Auggie Heeser, and Albert Brown. The decorated float following the lead automobile is a group of Mendocino High School girls. Photograph taken by local photographer, Perley Maxwell. [...]
Pentecost Parade in Mendocino, 1898. The Pentecost Parade or the "Celebration of the Holy Ghost" coming down Lansing and turning onto Main Street in Mendocino in 1898. The group is marching past the Brown & Gray General Merchandise Store, formerly the place of business for William H. Kelley's general merchandise store. Note the wooden sidewalk on both Main and Lansing Streets. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley [...]
William Wetherbee Gibbs, whose nickname was “Sam Slick,” operated a saloon out of the front of his Main Street home in the 1870s. Originally, built about 1866, Sam Slick’s Saloon was located just west of the Mendocino Hotel, in the space now occupied by its restaurant. The Buffalo Saloon, c. 1886. Note the buffalo head over the door. Standing (L - R): Ed Hatch, Billy [...]
Logger with pack mule, hauling a load of tanbark, 1880-1920. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) September 8, 1921 - Ed Rasmussen and James Bowman, the local garage owner and Ford dealer, went out to Mettick Creek on the Southfork of Big River to get Rasmussen’s truck. Rasmussen had bought the Ford truck from the Caspar Lumber [...]
On this day in Mendocino history… The Steamer Fort Bragg Loading Lumber at Big River, Mendocino, c. 1920. At this time, the Fort Bragg was operated by Charles Higgins of the Higgins Steamship Company in San Francisco. Note the letter "H" on the smokestack. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) September 7, 1932 - The wooden steam [...]
In 1850, the Baltimore-built Clipper Frolic, en-route to Gold-Rush San Francisco from China, wrecked on a reef just north of today’s Point Cabrillo Light Station. Her story has been called “the most significant shipwreck on the west coast” by historians. Artifacts and interpretive materials from the shipwreck of the Frolic are on permanent exhibit.
“Then and Now” exhibit portrays the town of Mendocino and its surroundings by comparing scenes photographed approximately 100 years apart. The original photographs, taken by local, amateur photographer Perley Maxwell, were printed by the 2002 Mendocino High School photography class. The students then took modern day digital images of the same location. These revealing images show how things have changed and how some things may never [...]