Prior to 1850, a Pomo settlement named Buldam was located near Mendocino on
the north bank of the Big River. The town was founded in 1850 as a logging
community, and was originally named Meiggsville after Henry Meiggs. The first
post office opened in 1858. Many of the town's early settlers were New
Englanders, as was true with many older Northern California logging towns.
Portuguese fishermen from the Azores also settled in the area, as did
immigrants from Canton Province in China, who built a Taoist temple in the
town.
Mendocino's economy declined after 1940, and it became a somewhat isolated
village with a
