A wooden church with a steeple behind a fence next to a water tower

Kelley Baptist Church & MacCallum Water Tower, 1956. Kelley Baptist Church on Ukiah Street with the MacCallum water tower on the right. The bell tower opening has been covered, and the four mini-towers on each corner are still intact. At the time of this photo, the church was not being used by the local Baptists, who were meeting at the old Lumber Company office on the south side of Main Street near Kasten Street. In 1957, the new Mendocino Baptist Church would be built, located on the southeast corner of Kasten and Little Lake Streets. (Gift of Robert Lewis (photographer), Robert Lewis Collection, Kelley House Photographs)

Construction of this church was funded entirely by the Kelley family. The church was dedicated on June 10, 1894 by the Reverend J. S. Ross. The MacCallum Water Tower was built in 1928.

More historical photos of Mendocino available in “Perley Maxwell’s Mendocino,” by Bruce Levene. Includes the Mendocino High School Photography Students 2002 Then & Now Project. $25.

Church building with steeple next to a water tower

Corners of the Mouth, February 2022. The addition on the back of the church building was added in 1993.