Black Bear Press

Overview

This is the kind of building that does not need much help telling you it has been around awhile.

The tall false front still gives it that old roadside-business look, the kind of place meant to catch your eye from the road while the real working space stretches back behind it. It has the look of a building that could shift from one local use to another without losing its basic character.

That is exactly what happened here. At different points, this Caspar building has been remembered as Nolan's Grocery, Black Bear Press, and office space connected with conservation work. Each chapter says something about Caspar: small stores, practical trades, local service, and the reuse of older buildings instead of replacing them.

Location

The building stands at 14951 Caspar Road in Caspar, California, along the main road through the village. Caspar has always had a different feel from Fort Bragg or Mendocino — smaller, quieter, and more village-like, with buildings that often held more than one kind of life over time.

This address fits that pattern. It is not a polished commercial strip building. It is an older roadside structure whose shape still suggests a storefront, a work space, and a community stop.

History

One of the best-documented later chapters at this address is Black Bear Press. Public references place Black Bear Press at 14951 Caspar Road, tying the building to local printing and press work. That use fits the building well. It looks like the kind of place that could move from one practical community purpose to another without needing to become fancy.

But the older grocery-store chapter is the one that comes through most strongly in local memory. Before the press years, many people remembered this building as Nolan's Grocery. Not just as a vague old store, but as a real neighborhood grocery where children bought penny candy, returned Coke bottles and egg cartons, and knew the people behind the counter.

Several memories place Nolan's Grocery in the 1950s and 1960s, with one recollection that it closed around 1971. Mildred Gibney was remembered working in the store, and the candy, bottle returns, egg cartons, and small-town grocery routine all point to the kind of place that mattered because it was part of everyday life.

That grocery history also survived outside the comment thread. Later local references noted that "Nolan's Grocery" could still be seen etched on a nearby window. That is one of those small physical clues that keeps an old business from disappearing completely. Even after the shelves are gone and the business has changed, the building still holds onto the name.

The address also appears in a more recent Caspar chapter. A 2014 North Coast Regional Water Board notice was addressed to The Conservation Fund at 14951 "A" Caspar Road, showing that the property also served as office space connected to conservation and watershed work. That feels right for Caspar too — a former grocery and print-shop setting finding another life in work tied to land, water, and preservation.

The Building Today

Today, the building still carries the look of an older Caspar roadside business. Its tall false-front façade gives it a clear storefront presence, while the longer building behind it suggests the practical working space that made buildings like this useful over time.

Even without a grocery counter or printing press visible from the road, the building still reads as part of Caspar's older business landscape. It is the kind of structure that holds onto its past through shape, scale, and memory.

Why It Matters

Black Bear Press / Nolan's Grocery matters because it shows how much history can live inside one small-community building.

This was not just a print shop. It was not just an old grocery. It was a place where children bought candy, families returned bottles and egg cartons, local people worked, and later businesses and offices found practical use in the same structure. That kind of layered history is easy to miss if a person only drives by and sees an old false-front building.

In a village like Caspar, buildings like this do more than house businesses. They become memory holders. They show how local life worked before everything became larger, newer, and more standardized.

Community Memories

The strongest community memories center on Nolan's Grocery. People remembered going there as children, buying penny candy, returning Coke bottles and egg cartons, and seeing familiar local people behind the counter. Mildred Gibney was remembered as part of the store's life, and several memories placed the grocery era in the 1950s and 1960s.

The comments also helped connect the building's later identity as Black Bear Press with its older storefront life. Together, those memories make the building more than a roadside landmark. They make it part of Caspar's everyday history — a place of errands, candy, work, printing, and community use.

Timeline

1950s–1960s — Community memories place Nolan's Grocery in the building, serving Caspar residents with groceries, candy, bottle returns, and everyday neighborhood-store use.

Around 1971 — One local recollection places the closing of Nolan's Grocery around this time.

Later years — Black Bear Press operated at 14951 Caspar Road, connecting the building to local printing and press work.

2014 — A North Coast Regional Water Board notice was addressed to The Conservation Fund at 14951 "A" Caspar Road, showing later office use connected to conservation and watershed work.

Present memory — The building remains remembered for its grocery-store past, its press-shop identity, and its old Caspar roadside-business character.

Sources: Original post text and comment thread provided by Gee Bee. Comment memories including contributions from Tammy Lowe, Virginia McNeill, Candi Baird, Camille Parsons, Richard Shafer, Peggy DeBrum, Jan Washburn Schultz, Roxana Cuellar, and Chris Braga. Ukiah Daily Journal / Newspapers.com listing for Black Bear Press, 14951 Caspar Road, Caspar. Merlin the Tinker site reference to Caspar landmarks including Black Bear Press. California Regional Water Quality Control Board NOA letter addressed to The Conservation Fund, 14951 "A" Caspar Road, Caspar. Anderson Valley Advertiser comment noting "Nolan's Grocery" could still be seen etched on a nearby window. Anderson Valley Advertiser / Mendocino County Today image reference to "Nolan's Grocery, Caspar, 1965."