Gallery Bookshop / Jarvis-Nichols Building

Some buildings in Mendocino look like they have been holding the whole town together by sheer force of white paint, old wood, and memory. This is one of them.

Overview

Gallery Bookshop occupies the historic Jarvis-Nichols Building at the northeast corner of Main and Kasten Streets, one of Mendocino's most recognizable old commercial buildings. Long before shelves of books filled its windows, this corner was part of the working commercial heart of the village.

The bookstore itself dates to 1962, when Gallery Bookshop was established in the Jarvis-Nichols Building. It began not simply as a bookstore but with paintings and prints by local artists as part of its identity — which helps explain the "Gallery" in its name. Over the decades it expanded, and Bookwinkle's Children's Books eventually became part of the operation.

Today Gallery Bookshop and Bookwinkle's remain an independent Mendocino bookstore, with the business commonly listed at 319 Kasten Street even though the storefront and historic building face Main Street. Other listings have also used 45098 Main Street, which helps explain why both addresses are associated with the property.

Location

This property is one of those Mendocino corners where the address can be confusing.

Gallery Bookshop currently uses 319 Kasten Street in its official and Chamber listings, while 45098 Main Street appears in other business listings associated with the building. Historic American Buildings Survey records identify the Jarvis-Nichols Building as 45080 Main Street. The differing numbers appear to reflect the large corner property, its multiple commercial spaces and changes in addressing over time rather than three unrelated buildings.

What does not change is the location: the historic Jarvis-Nichols Building on the northeast corner of Main and Kasten Streets.

History

The building's history reaches much farther back than the bookstore.

Kelley House Museum research dates the building to 1874 and credits its design to L. A. Morgan. Their research describes what appears to be one large building as originally two separate structures, joined visually by the ornate false front and upper bay windows that still give the corner its distinctive appearance.

Morgan operated a general merchandise business in the western section. The eastern portion was used by M. J. C. Galvin, who served as Justice of the Peace, ran a notary service, and published the West Coast Star.

A Historic American Buildings Survey prepared for the National Park Service gives a slightly earlier construction estimate of circa 1871 and says the building was possibly constructed by Lauriston A. Morgan. The survey identifies it as an Italianate redwood building with a double-gabled roof, second-story bay windows and a bracketed cornice. That difference in dates is worth preserving rather than forcing the history into one answer.

In 1878, Henry Jarvis and Thomas Dollard purchased Morgan's store. Dollard was killed the following year while investigating poaching in the Big River woods. James Nichols then purchased Dollard's interest in the business, creating the partnership remembered as Jarvis & Nichols.

Jarvis & Nichols developed a successful general merchandise business here. The store grew physically along with the business, with a rear addition in 1882 and another in 1884. In 1893, Jarvis and Nichols acquired the eastern portion of the building, removed the dividing wall and expanded their mercantile operation across the entire first floor.

Historic photographs show just how important this corner was to early Mendocino commerce. A photograph dating to about 1877 shows the two-story building with its upper bay windows anchoring the northeast corner of Main and Kasten. Another view from about 1883 shows the Jarvis & Nichols Mercantile sharing the building with W. T. Wilson's Oyster and Coffee Saloon.

After approximately 34 successful years, Jarvis and Nichols retired in 1914, selling the business to their clerk, Burtt Elliott.

The Building Today

Part of what makes the Jarvis-Nichols Building special is how much of its old commercial character survived.

The federal Historic American Buildings Survey described the two-story redwood structure as remarkably intact, with an original first-floor front and an upstairs retaining its historic fabric with only minor alterations. Behind the main building were a water tower or tank house, barn and sheds that were later adapted for retail use.

Its tall false front, paired upper bay windows, decorative brackets and corner position make it one of those buildings that can be recognized immediately in both old photographs and modern views of Mendocino. Kelley House Museum illustrated that continuity with photographs of the building taken in 1907 and 2023. More than a century separates the two images, but the basic form of the building remains unmistakable.

When Gallery Bookshop opened here in 1962, another long chapter began. The bookstore gradually grew within the old mercantile building. Bookwinkle's Children's Books was established separately and later joined Gallery Bookshop; when Gallery expanded into its present space in 1993, Bookwinkle's moved with it. The combined store was purchased by longtime staff member Christie Olson Day in 2006.

Gallery Bookshop also continues to emphasize Mendocino Coast books, local authors and community events, while Bookwinkle's provides a dedicated children's section within the store.

Why It Matters

The bookstore has become as closely associated with this corner as the old mercantile once was. Its rooms are filled with books rather than bolts of cloth and general merchandise, but in a way the building is still doing much the same job it did in the nineteenth century — serving as a place where residents and visitors walk through the doors, browse, talk, discover something and carry a little piece of Mendocino home with them.

Community Memories

For generations of residents, Gallery Bookshop has been more than somewhere to buy a book. It has been one of those Mendocino places where people browse longer than they planned, discover local history they did not know they were looking for, bring children in to find books of their own, and occasionally spend as much time looking through the windows toward the ocean as looking at the shelves.

That fits the building surprisingly well. In the 1870s, people walked through these doors looking for merchandise, news, legal services and conversation. More than a century later, people still come through the same old corner building looking for information, stories and company. The merchandise changed. The building kept doing its job.

Timeline

circa 1871–1874 — The building is constructed at the northeast corner of Main and Kasten Streets, credited to L. A. Morgan.

1878 — Henry Jarvis and Thomas Dollard purchase Morgan's store.

1879 — Dollard is killed while investigating poaching in the Big River woods; James Nichols buys his interest, forming Jarvis & Nichols.

1882 and 1884 — Rear additions expand the store.

1893 — Jarvis and Nichols acquire the eastern portion and expand across the entire first floor.

1914 — Jarvis and Nichols retire, selling the business to clerk Burtt Elliott.

1962 — Gallery Bookshop is established in the Jarvis-Nichols Building.

1993 — Gallery Bookshop expands into its present space; Bookwinkle's Children's Books moves with it.

2006 — Longtime staff member Christie Olson Day purchases the combined store.

2026 — Gallery Bookshop and Bookwinkle's continue as an independent Mendocino bookstore.

Sources: This history blends the original Gallery Bookshop / Jarvis-Nichols Building post with additional historical research. Sources include the Kelley House Museum, particularly its Jarvis & Nichols Building "Then and Now" research and historic Main Street business photographs; the Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, HABS No. CA-2245; Gallery Bookshop's own historical information; Mendocino Coast visitor and Chamber listings; and additional business-history material concerning Gallery Bookshop and Bookwinkle's Children's Books. Original post text provided by Gee Bee.