Pacific Pearl - KNYO Radio - Coast Cleaners

Overview

The storefronts at 325–327 N. Franklin Street have adapted to very different uses during more than a century of downtown Fort Bragg history.

Today the building is associated with Pacific Pearl and KNYO Radio. Earlier generations remember Coast Cleaners and Alton’s Candy.

Together, those businesses tell a story not only about a building, but about the changing everyday life of Franklin Street.

Location

The building stands at 325–327 N. Franklin Street in downtown Fort Bragg.

Dating to 1906, it is part of the older Franklin Street commercial landscape. Its storefront spaces have been adapted repeatedly as businesses and community needs changed.

History

One of the best-remembered businesses at this address was Coast Cleaners.

Roy and Virginia Bishop owned and operated the cleaners, providing dry cleaning and delivery service and, for a time, carpet cleaning.

The business belonged to an era when suits, dresses, pressed shirts, and uniforms were a much more common part of everyday working life in Fort Bragg.

Law-enforcement officers brought in uniforms, while other customers arrived with clothing needing cleaning, pressing, or repair.

The work went well beyond dry cleaning. Clothing might need buttons or zippers replaced, pockets repaired, or suede patches sewn onto the elbows of wool shirts.

Virginia handled sewing and repairs while Roy operated the cleaning equipment and spent long hours at the press.

The shop also had an informal social side. Customers and friends sometimes came through the back door and visited while the work continued. Attorneys, bankers, law-enforcement officers, fishermen, hunters, and other residents could all end up talking beside the press.

The Bishop children grew up with Franklin Street as part of their everyday world, running errands and visiting neighboring businesses where many merchants knew them by name.

Coast Cleaners eventually passed to Vernon and Linda, who continued operating the family business while raising their own family. The cleaners remained part of Franklin Street until their retirement.

Another remembered business was Alton’s Candy.

Community recollection places Alton’s Candy in the portion of the building later occupied by KNYO Radio. Before microphones, music, and broadcasts filled that space, local residents remember it as a candy shop.

Today Pacific Pearl occupies part of the property with an eclectic mix of reused items, art, collectibles, and found treasures.

KNYO-LP 107.7 FM occupies another portion of the building. The volunteer community radio station began broadcasting in 2006 and has brought music, interviews, public-affairs programming, local information, and locally produced shows to the Mendocino Coast.

Through the years, the building has moved from cleaners and candy to resale, art, and community radio while remaining an active part of downtown Fort Bragg.

Community Memories

Memories of Coast Cleaners focus as much on the people as on the business itself.

Residents remember the steady work of pressing clothing, making repairs, and preparing garments to go back to customers in good condition.

The rear of the shop could become an informal gathering place, with visitors talking about fishing, hunting, work, families, and local life while the press continued operating.

For the Bishop children, Franklin Street became an extended neighborhood. They ran errands, visited nearby businesses, and grew up surrounded by merchants and customers who knew the family.

Later, another generation grew up around the cleaners when Vernon and Linda operated the business.

Alton’s Candy adds another simple but vivid memory. Before KNYO occupied the space, local residents remember going there for candy.

Timeline

1906 — Building dates to this early period of Franklin Street commercial development.

Earlier years — Alton’s Candy is remembered in the portion of the building later occupied by KNYO Radio.

Coast Cleaners era — Roy and Virginia Bishop operate Coast Cleaners, providing dry cleaning, delivery, clothing repair, pressing, and, for a time, carpet cleaning.

Later Coast Cleaners era — Vernon and Linda take over the family business and continue operating the cleaners until their retirement.

2006 — KNYO begins broadcasting as a community radio station.

Later years — Pacific Pearl becomes part of the building, bringing resale items, art, collectibles, and found treasures into the storefront.

Today — Pacific Pearl and KNYO Radio continue two very different traditions of small-scale, distinctly local Franklin Street businesses.