History of Mendocino, California

The town was founded in 1850 as a logging community, and was originally named Meiggsville after Henry Meiggs. Many of its early settlers were New Englanders, as was true with many older Northern California towns. Its economy declined after 1940, and it became a somewhat isolated village until discovered by the region's art community.

Since 1987 it 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 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 a California Historical Landmark. The Temple of Kwan Tai on Albion Street (another California Historical Landmark), was built in 1854 and is one of the oldest Chinese houses of worship in California.

The current name of the town comes from Antonio de Mendoza.