In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, below is an excerpt on local horticulturist Charlotte Milliken Hoak from the 2016 Kelley House publication From Maidens to Mavericks: Mendocino’s Women, written by local author, Molly Dwyer. Hoak was born in 1874 in the wilds of Comptche. She liked to say she was born with two green thumbs. Both of her parents loved growing plants and, on [...]
April 18, 1906 - “An earthquake shock of remarkable severity visited the entire Mendocino coast” at 5:13 am, according to the Beacon. A rumbling noise preceded the full force of the quake. “So violently did the earth shake that many people were thrown from their beds. Men, women and children fled precipitately from their houses and from the hotels, many of them in their night clothes. [...]
April 16, 1880 - Mendocino Coast pioneer Albert Maxwell died at 4pm at his home in Mendocino, “after a lingering and painful sickness,” according to the Beacon. Albert, a well-known carpenter and builder, had constructed the home at 45164 Little Lake Street just two years earlier. Born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in 1829, Albert married Jane Randall in 1852. The couple had two daughters before Albert [...]
Returning to Mendocino this May to share my newly published memoir—Beaujolais in My Blood: Growing up Gay and Well-Fed in a Family-Run Restaurant—will be a thrilling and sweet homecoming. I’m bringing the story of my adolescence living in the small Victorian village above Café Beaujolais, where my parents, Ellen and Gerald Pitsenbarger, created a small French restaurant. The cafe evolved into a famous local institution and [...]
April 10, 1909 - The buzz-wagon craze had come to Mendocino, according to the Beacon. “Buzz-wagon” was a slang term for the automobile, perhaps because the early-day gasoline engines were so noisy. The first Beacon report of an automobile purchase appeared in May 1903: “Abbott Colburn, who recently purchased an automobile, has thoroughly demonstrated their adaptability for traveling purposes even on the coast, where the heavy [...]
Group photograph of friends taken on July 4, 1878.Back row L to R: Alexander MacCallum, Leonard Barnard, Archibald Yell, Dr. Tracy Hubbard Smith.Front row L to R: Daisy Kelley MacCallum, Libbey Briggs, Nellie Malone, Kate Carlson. (Photographer: George Irving Hazeltine; Gift of Nannie Escola) April 8, 1856 - Leonard “Len” Barnard was born in Maine, the son of Ira and Susan Barnard. In 1868, [...]
As April is National Poetry Month, I decided to look through the Kelley House archives to see what sort of poetry selections we had. I was pleased to discover that we have a few and was immediately drawn to our collection of Country Women magazines. The publication—published from 1974 to 1979—called itself "a feminist country survival manual and a creative journal” and contained essays, stories, and [...]
Harry Richard Boos, grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Simon Boos, sitting in a child's chair holding a toy armadillo, 1923. On the back of the photograph is a reference to the 1914 newspaper article. (Gift of Jacqueline Boos Tucker) April 4, 1914 - An armadillo caused a bit of uproar in town. The Beacon reported that “Mrs. Simon Boos is having a great deal [...]
April 1, 1911 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that John Bowman and Frank Pacheco had begun manufacturing soda at the recently reopened Mendocino Bottling Works plant on Evergreen Street. This building was located on the now empty lot just south of Cafe Beaujolais. A soda factory had operated intermittently at this location since 1882, and John’s father, George H. Bowman, had managed the Mendocino Bottling Works [...]
These two images, taken almost 116 years apart, show the Jarvis & Nichols Building located on the northeast corner of Main and Kasten Streets in Mendocino. Today, this elegant building is home to Gallery Bookshop. The Jarvis & Nichols Building, 1907. (Photographer: Perley Maxwell) The Jarvis & Nichols Building, 2023. (Photographer: Robert Dominy) Designed by L. A. Morgan and built in [...]