The Aircraft Warning Service (AWS) was a civilian service of the United States Army Air Force Ground Observer Corps begun during World War II to keep watch for enemy planes entering United States airspace. The Kelley House Museum has a few photographs and one archival item to help us remember those days.  This photograph captured the images of Syd Newman, Lena Meshishnek and Faye Lang at the Aircraft Warning Station on Keene Summit, in Comptche.  There was another station located[... see full page]

By Katy Tahja There’s nothing I like better than to read old Mendocino Beacons in the archives of the Kelley House. Only problem is that they’re bound in hardback by year and these big books are difficult to handle and fragile with age. The solution? Nannie Escola, an early Mendocino historian, regularly clipped the “25, 50, 75, 100 Years Ago…” columns from the Beacon and wrote an index to the subjects covered. All I had to do was pick up the 1886[... see full page]

Since the very beginning, back in 1973, the organization which was initially known as Mendocino Historical Research and which evolved into the Kelley House Museum, has been fueled by volunteers.  We’d like to thank today’s volunteers, right here and now!  They serve in numerous capacities, including, mailing party members, museum docents, walking tour guides, July 4th chefs and servers, research office assistants, web master, newsletter designers, writers, and board members. We could not provide the historical information and services, and[... see full page]

On the surface of it, there may not seem to be a lot of interaction between the topic of the Kelley House Museum’s new exhibit, immigration, and the lumber industry here on the North coast, however, without an influx of immigrant labor, there may not have been an industry. From the very beginning of the operations of the Mendocino Lumber Company’s mill, immigrant workers were hired, and while not all of them remained, many did.  There is a wealth of archival[... see full page]

“Mendocino’s Mirror: Reflections on Immigration” is the title of the Kelley House Museum’s upcoming exhibit, available for viewing during regular museum hours beginning Friday, May 6 and continuing through August 8, 2016.  Prior to the public opening, we will host a reception for ‘Members Only’ tomorrow, May 5th, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.  If you aren’t already a member, we welcome you to join that evening! We are all immigrants.  This exhibit examines some of the particular stories behind that statement[... see full page]

In 1907 and again in 1910, four children trod the boards of ‘Halliday’s Hall’ in Point Arena, during evening ‘Entertainments.’  When comparing the two photographs, it is apparent that the scenery behind the children, in the small space provided for their acting, is the same.  Harder to confirm may be the fact that some of the children in each photograph are the same, as three years separate the taking of the two photos. The earlier of the two, taken in 1907,[... see full page]