Cowlicks Hand Made Ice Cream

Overview

Cowlicks Hand Made Ice Cream at 250 N. Main Street occupies a downtown building remembered through several very different chapters of Fort Bragg history.

Today, Cowlicks is one of the town’s familiar ice cream stops, drawing locals and visitors for handmade ice cream and a mix of traditional and unusual flavors.

Earlier generations remember the address as Coast Hardware, a Honda motorcycle sales and repair location, Rexall Drug, Shooters and later food businesses including Taka’s Grill.

The building’s history shows how one downtown commercial space could repeatedly change purpose while remaining part of everyday local life.

Location

250 N. Main Street sits along Fort Bragg’s main downtown commercial corridor.

Its location made it useful for businesses depending on both local customers and traffic moving through town. Over the years, the space has served retail, motorcycle sales and repair, a drugstore, entertainment and food businesses.

History

One of the earliest detailed community memories places Coast Hardware in much of the building during the early 1960s, with Honda motorcycle sales and repair on the north side.

Harry Wakerley was remembered as the owner. One contributor recalled buying a new Honda 50 Sport there in 1963 for $285 after earning $1 an hour working at the Golden Rule Market.

Later, many residents remember the building as Rexall Drug.

One longtime resident clarified that this was remembered as the newer Rexall location and that an earlier Rexall had operated farther north on the same side of Main Street.

Rexall became one of the strongest memories attached to the building. People recalled Hallmark cards and Christmas ornaments, candy at the checkout counter, Matchbox cars in a rotating display, cinnamon oil used for homemade cinnamon toothpicks and products such as Sun-In hair lightener.

One woman remembered buying her first purse there when she was about seven. Another said simply looking at the building brought back the smell of Sun-In.

A contributor whose great-grandmother worked at Rexall remembered playing on the conveyor belt in the rear storage area, while another commenter said her family owned the Rexall and remembered the store with great affection.

The building later entered a very different chapter as Shooters.

Shooters is remembered as a billiard hall, gathering place and family entertainment center. During the 1990s, it became a popular place for young people to meet friends and spend time together.

Several contributors remembered going there regularly as children or teenagers, and one described it as part of the days before smartphones and the internet changed how young people socialized.

Other remembered uses include a place where people could pay their telephone bills and a period associated in community memory with the name Wind and Weather. The exact sequence of those uses remains uncertain and is best preserved as part of the building’s oral history.

A Belgian chocolate shop is also remembered at the location during the 1990s.

Later food-related businesses included Taka’s Grill. One contributor remembered going to Shooters as a child and later working in the building at Taka’s, connecting two different eras of the property through his own experience.

Cowlicks Hand Made Ice Cream began its Fort Bragg story in 2001 and eventually became the business most closely associated with 250 N. Main Street today.

Cowlicks has developed a following well beyond Fort Bragg. Visitors describe making it a regular stop whenever they return to the Mendocino Coast, while locals have their own favorite flavors and traditions.

Community Memories

Rexall produced some of the most detailed memories.

People remembered Matchbox cars, Hallmark cards and ornaments, candy at the checkout counter, cinnamon oil, first purses and the unmistakable smell of Sun-In.

Shooters represents another generation.

Former customers remember playing pool, gathering with friends and having a place for young people and families to spend time together. Several simply said how much they loved and missed it.

The Coast Hardware and Honda chapter adds an earlier layer, especially the memory of buying a brand-new Honda 50 Sport in 1963 for $285.

Cowlicks has created its own generation of memories.

People described it as a favorite stop, a happy place and some of the best ice cream they had eaten. Favorite flavors mentioned include peppermint, Hokey Pokey, raspberry chocolate chip and Candy Cap mushroom ice cream.

One visitor living in Sacramento wished Cowlicks could ship its ice cream so she could order Hokey Pokey regularly.

Even dogs became part of the Cowlicks story. One customer remembered that her dog would begin pulling toward the shop from several blocks away because visiting dogs could get a treat.

Together, the memories span hardware, motorcycles, drugstore shopping, teenage hangouts, restaurant work and ice cream — an unusually broad range of Fort Bragg life within one downtown building.

Why It Matters

250 N. Main Street matters because it has repeatedly adapted to what downtown Fort Bragg needed.

In one era, people came for hardware or a motorcycle. In another, they bought cards, candy and everyday drugstore goods at Rexall. Later generations came to Shooters to play pool and meet friends. Others remember eating or working at Taka’s.

Today they come for Cowlicks.

The businesses changed dramatically, but the building kept serving much the same purpose: bringing people downtown and giving them a place connected to everyday life.

That is why the memories are so specific.

People remember buying their first purse, choosing a Matchbox car, playing in the stockroom, buying a Honda for $285, meeting friends at Shooters or watching a dog pull toward Cowlicks because it knew ice cream was waiting.

Those ordinary moments are what give a downtown building its history.