Local history explorations often start with something as simple as a piece of paper. Walking into the Comptche store recently owner Belinda Pollack handed me a sheet of paper and asked “Who was Amanda Newman?”…
Posts published by “Katy Tahja”
This story is dedicated to AVA reader Richard Hargreaves of Redding, who is pushing 90 years of age and has vivid history memories. It’s how one story can lead to another, then another. Several weeks…
Living 45 years on the coast, but having business or family needs that take me into the Central Valley, I’ve driven Highway 20 along the north shore of Clear Lake more times than I can…
Ever heard of Indian Schools in Mendocino County? Why were they needed? Why were there a dozen of them around the County? Investigating this phenomenon from a century ago, please understand all natives were referred…
Several months ago I did a column on place names on the Mendocino Coast. An AVA reader, Jonah Raskin, left a comment on the newspaper’s website suggesting I write a column on native place names…
After driving back roads and living off the beaten path for 50 years I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about our local natural world. When I see something growing along the road that truly looks out…
This account of the Hopland Stock Farm will be a testament to this historian’s self control in that I will try and NOT go into too many details about the fascinating story of A.W. Foster…