In collaboration with Mendocino’s Kelley House Museum, MendoFever will be publishing their “This Day in Mendocino History” Facebook posts. The Kelley House Museum works hard to document and curate Mendocino County’s rich history and can be visited in the seaside town of Mendocino.
On this day in Mendocino history…
June 10, 1894 – Reverend John S. Ross dedicated the new Baptist Church in Mendocino. In his sermon, he praised Eliza Kelley who had at last accomplished her greatest ambition – building a church where the small body of Baptists in town would have a place to worship.
The church had been organized the previous June by Mrs. Kelley along with Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Joy, Mrs. Reuben Allen, Mrs. John Huff, and Mrs. Sjolund. Until a church could be built, the Baptists met at the Good Templars’ Hall on the south side of Main Street.
In July 1893, W. H. Kelley began removing buildings and clearing the lot next to the McCallum House on Ukiah Street in preparation for building the church there. Construction was funded entirely by the Kelley family.
It’s unclear when the Baptist Church stopped meeting in this building. In 1974, the Mendocino Beacon reported that the Old Red Church on Ukiah Street, “which has been standing silent and unused for half a century,” would house “Owl & Thistle Antiques” and Rosemary Henes’ “Personal Expression” shop.
Corners of the Mouth has occupied the church building since 1976.
“𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴” – 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘢𝘩𝘫𝘢’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘖𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘓 𝘊𝘖𝘓𝘓𝘌𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 11𝘢𝘮-3𝘱𝘮 𝘢𝘵 45007 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘰. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘵 curator@kelleyhousemuseum.org
