The Way It Was
Montecito Journal columnist Hattie Beresford has published a new book called The Way It Was~ Santa Barbara Comes of Age. Beresford, a well-known historian and author, tells us the book chronicles the 50 years between 1880 and 1930, when she says our town threw off its Victorian cloak and donned the mantilla of a thoroughly modern town. “Every aspect of what we have today was laid in the turn of the century, including the paved streets we still have today,” she said.
“The book offers a journey into the past that explores the evolution of our mountain trails, chronicles elaborate celebrations for famous visitors, and revels in the mania created by the town’s first horseless carriages. Readers will also meet a quintet of colorful characters whose enthusiasm, vision, and work created the underpinnings of today’s town and contributed greatly to Santa Barbara’s coming of age,” she said. “These lesser-known but no less brilliant lights helped establish the town we have today. Their stories are fascinating and their influence wide-ranging and long-lasting.” Those people include Jane Edna Spaulding, Adele and Albert Harmer, the Parks of Park Lane, and Roland Sauter, all of whom contributed to either the architectural or cultural landscape of Santa Barbara and Montecito.
In book form, Beresford’s work will be archived in Santa Barbara’s historical record, versus a more transient weekly article. “I was motivated to make my hard work more permanent,” she said. She says most of her content stems from digging deeper into specific people and places, with help from the previous, broader work of such notable historians as Stella Haverland Rouse and David Myrick.
Illustrated by more than 250 historic photographs and images, the book invites readers to ride with president William McKinley as he is reluctantly conveyed in a rose-bedecked carriage to the old Arlington Hotel, join hikers on the 1902 Chamber of Commerce trail perched on La Roca Grande for spectacular views of the city, and ride with “Wild Bill” Ruess as he races along East Cabrillo Boulevard straight into arms of the law in the town’s first speed trap.
For the past 12 years, Hattie has written a local history column this paper called The Way It Was, where she has been able to indulge her long-standing interest in the people and events of Santa Barbara’s past that determined its present. In addition, together with the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, she co-edited and produced the memoir of local artist Elizabeth Eaton Burton entitled My Santa Barbara Scrap Book and wrote two Noticias, the museum’s quarterly historical journal. She is a regular contributor to Montecito Journal Glossy, writing the column titled Mansions and Moguls, and she is the former editor of The Capital, the newsletter produced by the Pearl Chase Society, of which she was also a board member.
Hattie is holding two talks and book signings at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. A talk and reception is scheduled for Thursday, November 30, at 5:30 pm. Another talk is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, at 11 am. Both events require reservations. Email hattieberesford@gmail.com for reservations.
The book is available at the SBHM bookshop, Tecolote, Chaucer’s, and Read ‘N’ Post.
