Mendocino Village

Mendocino was founded in 1852 as a logging settlement, after the ship Frolic ran aground off the coast in 1850 and agents of the businessman Henry Meiggs took notice of the timber. The town was first called Meiggsville and was later named after nearby Cape Mendocino. Alongside New Englanders, Azorean Portuguese and Chinese immigrants settled here; the Kwan Tai Temple on Albion Street is among the oldest Chinese houses of worship in California. Most of the town has been listed since 1971 as the Mendocino and Headlands Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The village sits on a headland about 154 feet (47 m) above the sea and roughly 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Bragg. A walk through its few streets takes one to two hours; afterward, the path across the headlands above the Pacific is worth it, especially in the late afternoon. Only a little over 900 people live here, and parking is easiest on the edge of town.