Author: Kelley House Staff

Cat Mother: Mendocino Coast Music

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

Saturday, June 4 Opening Event with Live Music, 1-3 PM and Panel Discussion 3:30-4:30 PM, Suggested donation: $5 The Kelley House pays tribute to legendary local ‘70s band Cat Mother and their impact on the Mendocino Coast with a collection of ephemera, albums, artwork, and articles. Cat Mother was an eclectic rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York in 1967. They toured with Jimi Hendrix who co-produced their first album which featured the hit “Good Old Rock N Roll” in learn more…

July 4th Picnic & Lawn Party with the BEST Parade Viewing!

Monday, July 4th. HOURS: 11AM – 3PM Celebrate the Fourth of July on the Kelley House Lawn! Our biggest fundraiser is back after a two year hiatus. Dance to live music from the Mixed Nuts and watch the parade. Food will be courtesy of Miss KJ’s Bangin’ Bites food truck, serving street tacos, corn, fruit and churros. We’ll be selling margaritas, sangria, beer from North Coast Brewing and wine from assorted wineries, plus non-alcoholic options. Bring your picnic blanket for learn more…

Pipes and Bottles at Kelley House Exhibit

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

On display at the Kelley House Museum’s current exhibit are several clay pipes. Most are incomplete – missing a stem or the bowl – but are nonetheless intriguing – as are the old glass bottles and other remnants of an earlier times that we have dug out of our archives for this show, “Neighbors Across The Pond.”   The joys of smoking were introduced to Europeans by Native Americans in the 1500s, and when Sir Francis Drake returned to England learn more…

Book Sale

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

The Kelley House Museum hosts its annual Memorial Weekend used book sale on Sunday, May 29, from 10AM – 3PM. Choose from a curated collection of books on history, travel, cooking and gardening. A few rare finds will be available for collectors. info@kelleyhousemuseum.org. Kelley House Museum. 45007 Albion Street, Mendocino, CA 95460. Kelleyhousemuseum.org. 

Neighbors Across the Pond

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

This exhibit runs through May 1, 2022. It displays vintage photographs from two of Mendocino’s founding families, the Kelleys and the Fords, who lived across the Main Street from each other. The exhibit includes glass bottles, dolls and clay pipes excavated from the historic Kelley Pond. Kelley House Museum, 45007 Albion Street, Mendocino kelleyhousemuseum.org (707) 937-5791 Thurs-Sun 11AM to 3PM

Kelley House Announces New Look Tin Eli Book

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

The Kelley House Museum in Mendocino is pleased to announce the publication of its latest book, Look Tin Eli – The Mendocino-Born Visionary Who Helped Shape the Chinese-American Experience.  With almost fifty historic images, the 114-page publication is the first to present a comprehensive life history of the innovative Look Tin Eli (LTE). Bringing together Look family memorabilia, government documents and extensive research, authors Jane Tillis and Robert Becker have told a remarkable story. As a teenager returning home from learn more…

Rediscovering the Kelleys

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

The Kelleys were in the town of Mendocino at its founding in 1852. And over these last many years, we thought we had come to know a lot about them.  However, new research has shed more light on the interesting lives of this pioneer family. Using internet search capabilities not available to earlier scholars, coupled with fresh materials recently brought to the Kelley House Museum from family descendants, volunteer Carol Dominy and curator Karen McGrath have assembled information that expands learn more…

A Kelley House Holiday Celebration

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

December 4, 2021 Family fun with Santa and a toast to William Kelley’s 200th Birthday! VISIT SANTA 3:30-4:30 PM Bring your family and your holiday good cheer to snap a perfect picture standing next to Santa on our porch! Cookies and cider provided. Suggested donation: $5 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE 5-7 PM After Santa leaves for the North Pole, join us as we toast the bicentennial birthday of William Kelley and the 160th anniversary of the Kelley House itself! We’re decking learn more…

William Kelley Turns 200 Years Old

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

This week we celebrate the bicentennial of William Henry Kelley’s birth. And who is this W. H. Kelley? That is a question many people visiting the Kelley House Museum want answered when they walk through the door. He was a remarkable man, and his tale is worth telling. William Kelley was born at Morell, Prince Edward Island, Canada, November 2nd, 1821, to Peter and Elizabeth (Webster) Kelley. As the oldest in a family of eight, he began his working life learn more…

History Mystery

Posted onAuthorKelley House Staff

The Kelley House Museum could use your help in identifying this group of intriguing women. As the original paper matt frame indicates, the photograph was taken by the Fitch and King photography studio in Fort Bragg. We estimate the date between 1904 to 1914. Could this be your great grandmother and her friends? Why are they gathered together at the studio? How are they related? Please contact Karen McGrath at curator@kelleyhousemuseum.org with any clues you might have.