by Christina Aranguren with Carol Dominy View of Brown and Davis houses on Pine Street between 1914 and 1921. The H.H.Brown house is the two-story near the bottom of the photo with the water tower. Their daughter's bungalow is behind on the left. The large building on the left hill with the tall water tower is the original high school, replaced in 1949 with the one we know today. The arrival of neighbors new to any corner of the[... see full page]

The Wye intersection at Main and Lansing in Mendocino, 1957. Courtesy of Bette Duke. For about a hundred years, Highway 1 came right through the town of Mendocino. Not around it as it does today. It wasn’t until the 1960s that today’s wide pavement was built, zipping cars at 55 miles per hour around the east side of downtown. Before then, your southbound highway journey would have been slower, because Lansing Street was the highway. From Agate Cove, the two-lane road[... see full page]

Way back at the turn of the present century, an oral history project was undertaken by a group of two dozen Mendocino Middle School children. This group of youngsters, now twenty years older, has left us a valuable record of twelve “Old Timers” and their experiences here on the coast. The project, led by Deena Zarlin, past Kelley House board member and active in the educational community at that time, had the these student interviewers and interviewees:

• Jonathan Matlin talking to[... see full page]

Vault Shed Before 1990 There is a popular exhibit on the walls of the Kelley House Museum called “Then and Now.” Visitors are offered the opportunity to compare two framed photos of the same place, taken about one hundred years apart. You can see the bay-windowed Jarvis-Nichols general store on the corner of Main and Kasten Streets bedecked with patriotic bunting for the July 4th parade circa 1900, juxtaposed with the contemporary view of that building, now occupied by the Gallery[... see full page]

One of the most fun things about the Kelley House is that you never know who or what might come in the door next. A couple of weeks ago an elderly couple from Lakeport stopped by to give the Kelley House a photo of his great-grandparents wedding portrait and a copy of their marriage license. Wed on December 7, 1895, Emil Kynell and Sofie Johnson were both natives of Finland and lived in Albion. The Bradleys took the time to[... see full page]

            WITH JUST ONE and a half staff positions, the Kelley House could not exist without its valued volunteers. From the Board of Directors, to docents, writers, gardeners and the events team, volunteers are celebrated each year at an annual appreciation party.            This year’s event is scheduled for Thursday, June 6, from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m.. If you have suggestions for the menu theme, please drop us a line. Last year’s chili cook-off and 2017’s Mexican feast were big hits and we look[... see full page]