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 [...]
Labor Day advertisement for Safeway in the Mendocino Beacon, 1943. Note the Red Stamp and Blue Stamp Values in the ad and the Red Points mentioned in the cartoon at the bottom. Color-coded stamps and points were part of the food rationing system put in place during World War II. Food rationing began in the spring of 1942, when government-issued food coupons were required to purchase [...]
The distinctive round Remedy Store sign outside the store’s second location at 45094 Main Street in Mendocino. The Bank of America building and Chet Bishop’s General Merchandise Store can be seen in the background. (Gift of Carl A. Moore, Lee Burleson Collection, Kelley House Photographs) In 1928, Dr. Russell Preston, beloved Mendocino physician, purchased the town’s only pharmacy, Pioneer Drug Store. There had been [...]
The British tramp steamer, Oswestry, anchored in Mendocino Bay, 1909. The Mendocino Mill can be seen in the background on Big River. (Perley Maxwell (photographer), Gift of Emery Escola, Emery Escola Collection, Kelley House Photographs) September 4, 1909 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that five sailors had deserted the big British tramp steamer Oswestry. While the ship was anchored in Mendocino Bay, the sailors [...]
The house built by Michael Byrnes in 1884 on Little Lake Road in Mendocino. Mary Byrnes is on the left flanked by her daughters, Grace and Dorothy. Michael J. Byrnes is holding the colt. Ralph Byrnes, son of Michael and Mary, is standing by the dog, and Philip Hite is behind the fence. The house still stands at 44600 Little Lake Road. Note the "Mendocino [...]
The Kelley House Museum is on the lookout for a local stamp collector who can help them evaluate three albums of First Day Stamp Covers. An inquiring mind might ask, “What is a First Day Cover?” An example of one of the hundreds of “First Day” Stamped Envelopes saved by an unknown collector in special albums and given to the Kelley House Museum. With [...]
September 1, 1941 - Mendocino lost one of its landmarks when the Occidental Hotel, located at the junction of Lansing and Main Streets, burned down. The fire was caused by a defective flue which ignited a wall in the early morning hours. The owner of the hotel, Kate Gorman, immediately called out to her grandson Cletus Byrnes and began waking her guests. It was Labor Day [...]
August 31, 1915 - The United States Submarine F-4 was raised from the sea floor, and the bodies of the crew were recovered. Aliston Hills Grindle, the only child of prominent Mendocino banker Joshua Grindle, served on the F-4 as the chief electrician. Allie and all 20 fellow crew members had lost their lives in March when the submarine sank two miles from Honolulu Harbor following [...]
The Brien House on the south side of Little Lake Road, southeast of the Joshua Grindle House, 1962. (Donated by Jeanette Hansen, Jeanette Mendosa Hansen Collection, Kelley House Photographs) John Brien arrived in Mendocino in the winter of 1863-1864 at the age of 19. He worked on a ranch in Cuffeys Cove for a short time, but soon returned to Mendocino, where he worked for the [...]