January 28, 1915 – A surprise party was held for Mrs. Mamie Nichols on her 42nd birthday. The front page of the Saturday Beacon described the celebration in detail. “A good time! Why, it was the best ever! They don’t make any better times than everybody had at the surprise birthday party that was given Mrs. Mamie Nichols at Skating Rink hall last Thursday night. Forty-odd good friends of the popular matron were gathered together to celebrate with her the learn more…

Mendocino High School Band marching up Main Street, 1936-1937. Gordon Dixon was the director of the band at that time. They are near the intersection of Kasten and Main Street, in front of Chet Bishop’s General Merchandise Store. In the background is the Bank Building. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs) Look Tin Eli: The Mendocino Visionary Who Helped Shape the Chinese-American Experience by Robert S. Becker and Jane Tillis – The life of Mendocino-born visionary Look Tin Eli was learn more…

January 25, 1937 – Henry Jarvis, one of the coast’s pioneer merchants and a leading Mendocino businessman died in Oakland at the age of 88. Henry, the eldest of 7 brothers, was born on the Jarvis farm near Surry, Maine in 1849 to Henry Augustus and Nancy Austin Joy Jarvis. The Jarvis family had lived on this farm since before the American Revolution, and there are Jarvis ancestors buried in the family plot who were born before 1700. After a learn more…

Sam and Ben Bever, early day pioneers of Mendocino, purchased this lot on Little Lake Street from William Heeser and built this house in the 1880s. The Bever Brothers were the successful proprietors of the “Central House” hotel on Main Street from 1878 to 1904. This hotel was renamed the “Mendocino Hotel” in 1927. The Bever House was a rental property until the brothers retired from the hotel business. In 1889, Postmaster William Mullen and his family moved into this learn more…

January 23, 1881 – John L. Clark and Elizabeth “Lizzie” J. Johnson were married at Russian Gulch by Reverend Thomas Kirkland. Lizzie was born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1863, the daughter of Laughlin and Margaret Elliot Johnson. The Johnson family moved to Mendocino when she was just a young girl. John was born in Ellsworth, Maine in 1853. After arriving in California in 1875, he sailed coastal vessels for a year, before settling in Mendocino, where he went to learn more…

January 21, 1909 – A house warming party was held for Reverend and Mrs. James Melville Fisher at their home, located just east of the Mendocino Presbyterian Church. The ladies of the church invited the members and friends of the congregation to welcome the couple as they moved into the recently constructed parsonage. “A large number of people gathered, each one carrying a pound of something useful to help fill the larder and to gladden the hearts of the preacher and learn more…

Photograph of cousins Jennie Blair (left) and Daisy Kelley MacCallum riding in a pedicab, or bike taxi, on Treasure Island during the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. Jennie is 71, and Daisy is 81 years old. A blanket covers their laps, and they are wearing coats and hats. (Gift of John Maulbetsch, Rosemary Kelley Maulbetsch Collection, Kelley House Photographs) The Golden Gate International Exposition, held at San Francisco’s Treasure Island, was a World’s Fair celebrating, among other learn more…

January 18, 1895 – Mendocino High School held its first Literary and Musical program. Principal R. Y. Glidden delivered the welcoming address. Mabel Jarvis, Edith Switzer, Florence Jarvis, Mamie Lowe, Allie Switzer, and Hattie Huff performed instrumentals. Mollie Norton and teacher Mary White read essays. Edith McCornack, Daisy Seavey, and Florence Jarvis sang vocal solos. The program ended with a chorus. Professor Glidden was the first principal of Mendocino High School. Hired in July 1893, his starting salary was $150 learn more…

January 16, 1886 – Henry Louis Frederick married Lottie E. Perry at her parents’ home in Mendocino. “The young couple have launched out on the ocean of life together, and our earnest hope is that their future may be one of sunshine, with clouds just enough to make a glorious sunset.“ Born in 1866, Lottie was the daughter of Captain John and Mary C. Perry. The Perry family had moved from Maine to Mendocino in the early 1870s, and Lottie’s learn more…