March 28, 1920 - Robert “Bob" Permenter was born in Humboldt County, the son of John Oscar and Gerda (Boesen) Permenter. Bob spent most of his childhood in Caspar and attended the local schools. He was always interested in music and became an accomplished pianist. Bob graduated from Mendocino High School in May 1937. The commencement ceremony showcased the Class of 1937’s musical talent. Mildred Nolan [...]
Studio photograph of Charles D. "Charlie" Norton, c. 1874. (Gift of Evelyn Larkin) March 26, 1869 - Charles D. “Charlie” Norton was born in Mendocino, the only son of William H. and Margaret Flanagan Norton. William and Margaret owned the Norton House Hotel, located on the southeast corner of Lansing and Main Streets. Charlie attended the early-day schoolhouse located near the northeast corner of [...]
Photograph of Nannie and John Escola, c. 1905. (Gift of Jean Rice) Continuing the celebration of Women’s History Month, we are highlighting one of the most influential historians of Mendocino, Nannie Flood Escola. Nannie’s memories and knowledge of early Mendocino were always shared freely with the newly formed Mendocino Historical Research, Inc, now known as the Kelley House Museum. As a young woman, Nannie [...]
March 20, 1943 - Mrs. Mabel E. Tomlinson died at her daughter’s home in Monterey at the age of 65. Although she had left Mendocino in 1901, the Beacon noted that “old-time friends here” would remember her maiden name, Mabel Rainey, and be sorry to read of her death. Mabel was the granddaughter of pioneer residents John and Anna Mann, who lived on a 100-acre ranch [...]
March 18, 1961 - The Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department burned one of the last remaining lumber company structures to the ground to practice their fire-fighting skills. The Freundt house sat on the Mendocino bluffs, on the south side of Main Street, overlooking Mendocino Bay. This house was built around 1855-56 by the Mendocino Lumber Company, and John Freundt, an early partner, lived there while keeping the [...]
Studio portrait of C. Coyle, likely Catherine Coyle, who owned the boarding house on the northwest corner of Kasten and Ukiah. (Gift of Emery Escola) In celebration of Women’s History Month, here is an excerpt from the Kelley House publication From Maidens to Mavericks: Mendocino’s Women, Mendocino Historical Review Volume XXIX, written by local author, Molly Dwyer. The book can be purchased in the [...]
March 14, 1909 - Former Woods Superintendent Byron Clark passed away from kidney disease at his home in Mendocino. Born in Ellsworth, Maine, in 1855, Byron arrived in Mendocino in 1874. The following year, his brother John joined him. According to the Beacon, Byron “went to work at once on Big River, and showed such vigor and intelligence in his work that two years later, when [...]
March 11, 1982 - A Fictitious Business Name notice appeared in the Mendocino Beacon for the Blue Heron Inn and The Chocolate Moosse. Robert Heron and Linda Friedman operated these businesses in the Old Bank House, located on the southwest corner of Albion and Kasten Streets. The Chocolate Moosse, located downstairs, offered an attractive community coffee shop. Specialties of the house included espresso, cafe latte or [...]
Originally printed in the Mendocino Art Center’s Fall 2003 Arts & Entertainment magazine Every March the annual Mendocino Coast Whale Festival celebrates the migration of the Pacific Gray Whales with their newborn calves from western Baja to the Bering Sea. But this celebration would not be possible without the 1976 Mendocino Whale Wars that helped to save the then-endangered species. The following is an excerpt spotlighting [...]
Rudy Hanson, c. 1917. March 7, 1920 - A tragic accident occurred near the Boom when twenty-year-old Rudy Hanson was killed by the accidental discharge of a shotgun. Rudy, his younger brother Arthur, and Joe Rossi had left Boyle’s camp early on a hand car heading to a point on the river below the Boom to find clams. After securing their clams, they returned to [...]