1894 Original Mendocino CA Land Deed – George P. McNear For Sale

Original 1894 California land deed connecting Petaluma’s McNear family to inland Mendocino County.

This lot is the original indenture dated 1 February 1894, together with the printed Mendocino County recording jacket showing the deed was filed 8 March 1894 at 3:55 p.m. at the request of H. B. Muir, and recorded in Volume 64 of Deeds, page 120.

The transaction

George P. McNear of Sonoma County conveys to Fred W. Steele of Mendocino County:

Lot 14, Section 31, Township 17 North, Range 12 West, Mount Diablo Meridian, Mendocino County.

Consideration stated: Ten Gold Coin Dollars. The deed notes this lot was part of land McNear acquired from W. H. Beda by deed dated 18 June 1888, recorded in Book 44 of Deeds, page 158.

Why the names matter

George Plummer McNear (1857–1947) was the son of Petaluma pioneer John A. McNear. The McNears built one of Northern California’s best-known 19th-century business houses — grain, milling, shipping, real estate, and later the Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad. The family name remains on Petaluma landmarks. This document shows that same McNear holding and conveying a surveyed government lot in inland Mendocino in the 1890s.

Henry B. Muir, who presented the deed for recording, was a Willits merchant and lumberman, later associated with Irvine & Muir and the Irmulco mill operations.

Fred W. Steele is named as a Mendocino County resident. He is not a nationally known figure; the interest here is the McNear grantor, the 1894 gold-coin form, and the complete county filing package.

The land

T17N R12W MDM lies in the Redwood Valley / Calpella area north of Ukiah, not on the Mendocino coast. Section 31 is a fractional section; “Lot 14” is a numbered government lot from the public-land survey, not a city house lot.

Please see photos for condition details and feel to make an offer!