Summer News From The Little River Museum 🌷

Little River Museum

Serving the community since 1885
PO Box 273
8185 Highway I
Little River, CA 95456
Summer Weekends or Open by appointment
Email: info@littlerivermuseum.org

Phone: 707-621-1358
https://www.facebook.com/littlerivermuseum/
www.littlerivermuseum.org
The Little River Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
Summer 2026

Little River Improvement Club & Museum, built in 1885, is the last building in Little River with its full historic integrity intact. It was the home of the Good Templars, our school, library, first telephone, post office, voting place, WWI and II community watch, and now, our community center and museum. Open summer weekends or by appointment.

The Northern Pomo Language Returns to the Classroom

For the first time in the history of Mendocino College, Northern Pomo is being taught as a standalone, credit-bearing Native American language course — a milestone in regional cultural preservation and renewal.

The inaugural class enrolled 41 students, bringing together tribal leaders, local grandmothers, college faculty, and community members from across Mendocino County. Taught by Lori Laiwa Thomas, Chair of Ethnic Studies, the course is fully transferable within the UC and CSU systems and was developed alongside local language revitalization programs and educational partners.

The timing is especially meaningful. The last native-born speaker of Northern Pomo passed away in 2005, making this effort not simply academic, but deeply cultural and intergenerational. Today, a new generation is helping carry the language forward — ensuring it survives not only in archives, but in classrooms, homes, and community gatherings.

Long before Little River’s sawmills, schooners, and post office, the Northern Pomo people lived along this coast. Archaeologists have documented human presence in Mendocino County dating back more than 14,000 years. Seasonal Pomo trails once connected the Pacific coastline to inland valleys and Clear Lake, where obsidian used for tools and arrowheads originated.

At the Little River Museum, visitors can explore this deeper history through our Northern Pomo collection, featuring finely woven basketry crafted from tule and willow, along with cultural artifacts connected to the Mendocino Coast’s earliest communities.

The museum also offers a unique Northern Pomo language listening exhibit featuring recordings by Pomo community members, allowing visitors to hear the sounds and rhythms of a language rooted in this landscape for thousands of years. Guests may also pick up a free Northern Pomo trail map highlighting traditional routes and historic gathering areas along the coast.

The language, the trails, the headlands, and the stories of this coastline remain deeply connected. As we welcome visitors this summer, we invite our community to experience and honor the enduring presence of Northern Pomo culture on the Mendocino Coast.

* This article references facts reported by the Mendocino Voice. Readers can access the original story below.

Read More Here

Pomo Exhibit Little River Museum - Map graphics by K. Kawmii’nikau.Village locations and territorial boundaries based on the work of S. A. Barrett. Trail routes adapted from maps by A. L. Kroeber (1925) and J. Davis (1961). Exhibit Display graphics and design by Rick Hemmings

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Preserving a Coastal Landmark: The Barns of Spring Ranch

Few structures on the Mendocino Coast are as instantly recognizable as the weathered barns standing on the bluffs of Spring Ranch. For generations, travelers along Highway One have paused to admire their rugged beauty, silhouetted against the Pacific sky. Today, these historic buildings remain enduring symbols of the agricultural heritage that helped shape our coastal communities.

The story of the barns begins in 1857, when William and Charlotte Kent established their ranch on the coastal prairie. At a time when logging camps and mill towns were rapidly expanding, the Kents supplied dairy and beef cattle, sheep, and pigs to feed the growing population. They also planted some of the first eucalyptus trees on the Mendocino Coast, many of which still stand east of Highway One near Spring Ranch today.

Over the decades, the ranch passed through several notable owners. In 1941 it was purchased by Hollywood stars Harry and Ilona Ueberroth, known on screen as Alan Curtis and Ilona Massey. Just a few years later, the property was sold to the Chiado family and eventually to the Spring family, who continued the ranching tradition by raising sheep, cattle, and pigs while cultivating sugar beets on the coastal grasslands. In 1996, Spring Ranch became part of Van Damme State Park, the barns remained as enduring reminders of the coast’s agricultural heritage.

This summer, the Little River Museum is honored to share a special commission from the late Jim Moorhead, a beloved supporter of the arts and former board member of the Mendocino Community Foundation. Displayed together as a triptych, the photographs portray the barn in three different years and stages of its life.

More than beautiful images, they serve as a visual record of change and preservation. Through Moorhead’s lens, viewers can witness not only the aging of a historic structure, but also the enduring presence of a landmark that has watched over the coast for nearly 170 years.

Today, as time and the elements continue their work, two of the original barns are being carefully dismantled while the largest barn remains standing. Yet thanks to Moorhead’s photographs, all three barns continue to tell their story.

The exhibit is part of the museum’s new Artist Series, celebrating artists whose work helps preserve the stories, places, and people of our region. We invite visitors to experience Moorhead’s photographs and reflect on the generations of ranchers, families, and community members whose lives are woven into the history of Spring Ranch.

Sincerely, Samara M. Smith, Executive Director