Community despite its small size, is a scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, making it extremely popular as an artist colony and with vacationers

How to Get There

From San Francisco (155 mi): Take Franklin St and Lombard St to US-101/Presidio Pkwy. Follow US-101 to CA-128 W in Sonoma County. Take exit 522 from US-101. Continue on CA-128 W. Drive to Little Lake St in Mendocino.

Overview

Mendocino is a community located 9.5 miles (15 km) south of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m). The town's name comes from Cape Mendocino, named by early Spanish navigators in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain. In turn, the etymology of Mendoza is "cold mountain."

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Despite its small size, the town's scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean has made it extremely popular as an artist colony and with vacationers.

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.

Economy

Mendocino is home to a large number of hotels and bed and breakfasts. It has a downtown commercial district facing the ocean, with a number of art galleries, retail shops, lodging and restaurants.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mendocino, California", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0