ViewsWatchers |
Contained Places
Mendocino (Spanish for "of Mendoza") is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California, United States. Mendocino is located south of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m).[1] The population of the census-designated place (CDP) was 894 at the 2010 census, up from 824 at the 2000 census. The town's name comes from Cape Mendocino, named by early Spanish navigators in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain. Despite its small size, the town's scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean has made it extremely popular as an artists' colony and with vacationers. [edit] History
Prior to 1850, a Pomo settlement named Buldam was located near Mendocino on the north bank of the Big River. In 1850, the ship Frolic was wrecked a few miles north of Mendocino, at Point Cabrillo, and the investigation of the wreck by agents of Henry Meiggs sparked the development of the timber industry in the area. Mendocino itself was founded in 1852 as a logging community for what became the Mendocino Lumber Company, and was originally named Meiggsville after Meiggs. The town was also known as Big River,[1] Meiggstown,[1] and Mendocino City,[2] before the current name was settled on. The first post office opened in 1858.[2] Many of the town's early settlers were New Englanders, as was true of many older Northern California logging towns. Portuguese fishermen from the Azores also settled in the area, as did immigrants from Canton Province in China, who built the Taoist Temple of Kwan Tai in town. Mendocino's economy declined after 1940, and it became a somewhat isolated village with a shrinking population. The revitalization of the town began in the late 1950s with the founding of the Mendocino Art Center by artist Bill Zacha.[3] Most of the town was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Mendocino County, California in 1971 as the Mendocino and Headlands Historic District. Mendocino Presbyterian Church on Main Street, dedicated on July 5, 1868, is one of the oldest continuously used Protestant churches in California, and is designated as California Historical Landmark #714. In addition, the Temple of Kwan Tai on Albion Street, California Historical Landmark #927, may be as old as 1854 and is one of the oldest Chinese houses of worship in California. Since 1987, Mendocino has been the site of the Mendocino Music Festival, a classically based but musically diverse series of concerts that is held annually in a huge circus-type performance tent on the town's Main Street in the Mendocino Headlands State Park. The Kelley House Museum has a cannon from the Frolic. In 2020, there was a water shortage which forced businesses to transport their own drinking water. [edit] Research Tips
|