The Piccolotti Ranch, located fourteen miles up Big River from Mendocino, played an important role in the history of both the Mendocino Lumber Company and the town itself. Established by the company around 1860, the ranch was created to supply fresh food to the logging camps scattered throughout the Big River watershed. Vegetables, fruit, hay, and grain were raised to feed workers and livestock, and the [...]
On April 30, 1984, descendants of the Ford family gathered at the Ford House on Main Street in Mendocino for a reunion that brought family heritage together with community history. Organized by California State Parks, the Mendocino Area Parks Association, and Mendocino Historical Research (today’s Kelley House Museum), the event celebrated the completion of restoration work on the historic home. Among the guests were two grandchildren [...]
Lu Robinson and Toni Lemos, circa 1962. Photo Credit: Marcella Robinson. At the Kelley House, we are preparing for an upcoming exhibit celebrating the work women have done to shape Mendocino’s history. There are countless stories to tell of the many working women on the coast, too many to fit into one exhibit. The following is one of those stories, written by William Lemos [...]
Edited by Averee McNear It’s hard to imagine a time when there wasn’t abundant access to books through schools, libraries, and bookstores, if a person could even afford books! In the late 19th century and early 20th century, public libraries began opening nationwide, many boasting the Carnegie name in honor of the Scottish American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who donated a significant sum of his fortune to [...]
The mill pond near the mouth of Big River was the final destination for the large rafts of logs floated downstream from the Boom to the Mendocino Mill. Central to moving these rafts was the “Maru,” a flat-bottomed scow launched in 1902 and powered by a steam-driven paddle wheel. Before its arrival, men guided the rafts by standing on top of the logs with long poles, [...]
The Mendocino Coast has a long tradition of creativity, craftsmanship, and community spirit, and its beer scene is no exception. From humble beginnings in kitchens and garages to award-winning breweries, homebrewing has played a defining role in shaping the region’s beer culture. Homebrewer Jeff Neumeier (left) and Tall Guy Brewing’s Patrick Broderick (right) collaborate on a brew. (Photographer: Mateo Ortiz) In the 19th and [...]
The Mendocino Troubadours were a much-loved local ensemble dedicated to bringing the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance to life. Formed in the early 1970s by Sue Erlenkotter and Jerry Pitsenbarger, the group quickly became known for their festive holiday concerts and performances at the Mendocino Art Center, local churches, and community gatherings. The Mendocino Troubadours with an array of early music instruments, 1978. [...]
Russell Brook Dam, a modest sixteen-foot structure on a tributary of Big River, was completed in 1907 by Alfred R. Johnston, a well-known logging boss and contractor. Built partly as a frame dam using logs, it stood one mile above the main river on Russell Brook. Smaller than many of the other dams on Big River, it was also the last dam Johnston built before his [...]
Come see the Blind Pig at the Kelley House until September 29th. In the early 20th century, few characters in Mendocino were as notorious or as colorful as Michael Dennis “Big Mike” Nolan. An Irish immigrant with a booming voice and a larger-than-life presence, Nolan was both a hard-working drayman and an infamous bootlegger who thumbed his nose at local prohibition laws long before [...]
The first Mendocino Grammar School was a landmark in the town’s history, serving local children for more than four decades. Before it was built, students attended classes in a small schoolhouse near the corner of Ukiah and Lansing Streets. By the early 1880s, the community had outgrown that building, and in 1884, the school board purchased more than four acres of land at the northeast corner [...]