116 & 118 South State Street

Built in Ukiah after the April 1906 earthquake, this sturdy iron-front brick building rose after a deep cellar was begun in August 1906 as an investment property of Henry Meyer, who had come to Ukiah in 1894 and hired brick contractor Ulysses N. Biggs, a builder of many other downtown buildings. It survived the devastating downtown Ukiah fire of June 18, 1917. For sixty years the north half was leased as a restaurant, including a period as Wong Lung's California Restaurant, where many Ukiahians first tasted Chinese food and bought favorites such as chop suey and pork, bringing their own food pails for take-out. For most of its life, the south half housed a saloon and liquor store. More recently, the building has been used for retail, law offices, and a wine bar, and it was renovated in 2007, when the cellar was repurposed as office space.

Ukiah, California · United States