Tag archives: history
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) is a happening place these days with all sorts of events going on. Remember admission is free if you want to come and check it out instead of coming to a special gathering. There is a new exhibition, “Borein and His Circle of Friends,” curated by Marlene R. Miller, […]
Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when it opened its latest exhibition “Borein and His Circle of Friends,” which runs through January 22. More than 50 works by Borein, who died in our Eden by the Beach in 1945, are on display over three galleries, including 25 watercolors loaned anonymously by a […]
Keith Moore could probably write a family saga, but instead he gave a celebration soirée in honor of his long lineage in California since 1840. The Santa Barbara Club was all decked out in Fiesta fashion when about 50 of his close friends gathered for margaritas and dinner on the lawn. It all began with […]
Erroneously translated as “little mountain,” the name El Montecito is an archaic use of the Spanish word meaning woodland or countryside. It was being used to designate the eastern part of the Pueblo Lands of Santa Barbara as early as the 1780s. Considered a wilderness, it only became populated when retiring soldiers of the Presidio, […]
Facing the second year of not being able to offer their students a yearly springtime trip to Boston, Crane Country Day School fifth-grade teachers Carrie Althoff and Ryan Long set out to “bring Boston to Montecito,” allowing their students the opportunity to have unique learning experiences. The Boston trip has been a rite of passage […]
Last week, Public Works representatives were in front of the Historic Landmarks Commission to present conceptual options related to the initial Mission Canyon Bridge Studies effort. The complicated project will ultimately enhance safety along the sensitive corridor and Mission Canyon Bridge, which spans Mission Creek and is located to the north of Mission Santa Barbara […]
Released 80 years ago this September, director Orson Welles’s debut film Citizen Kane has been inspiring countless arguments, articles, books, documentaries, parodies, and homages ever since. Playing a significant part in the film’s enduring mystique is the widespread belief that its two main characters, bombastic newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane and his much-younger mistress, alcoholic […]
In the early 1920s, the artist John Dwight Bridge was a popular and important force in the cultural renaissance fostered by the Community Arts Association. Having proven himself in earlier productions of the Community Arts Players, he may have reached his apex when he took on the role of Nicola, the Bulgarian manservant in George […]
The moon was nearly full that blustery March night in 1933, when a lone figure paused on the platform of Salina, Kansas, the closest train depot to the geographic center of the nation. Withdrawing the last of his money from a pocket of his corduroy trousers, he carefully placed the quarter and nickel on the […]
Her friends remembered her as eccentric, fun-loving, and generous and called her Peggy. In the late Elane Griscom’s 1990 Montecito Magazine article about Marguerite Ravenscroft, Kit McMahon, then archivist of the Montecito Association History Committee, remembered that Peggy once gave a $50,000 loan to a friend from cash tucked away in various spots in her […]
One of the things that fascinated me when we first moved to Santa Barbara in the mid-‘70s was the polo field just south of town. We soon became social members even though we lived in town and spent many a Sunday watching and learning about polo and its ponies. Yes, they are called ponies. We […]
On March 6, 1920, the Morning Press reported that the petroleum industry was booming in Ventura, prohibition agents were arresting bootleggers and rumrunners, and fruit vendors were setting up stands along the highways so booze-deprived drivers could quench their thirst by sucking on oranges. (I kid you not, there was an article in the newspaper!) […]
When Edward Johnson, principal stockholder of the Portola Theater Company, purchased the California Theatre on W. Canon Perdido Street in 1920, he envisioned a bright entertainment future for the town. At that time, there were only four movie houses, and one, the Strand Theatre, was being replaced by a motorcycle shop. By 1922, Johnson had […]
I’ve lived in Montecito – in the same house – for over 35 years and find it necessary to point out to folks just moving here that while we live in a beautiful place, ensconced as we are between the 4,000-ft Figueroa Mountains and the deep blue Pacific Ocean, it isn’t perfect. Add a near-ideal […]
With Valentine’s Day coming up, what did Jose Lobero (born Giuseppe in Genoa, Italy) love? He loved opera and in 1873 he built a theater to house that love. It began as an old wooden schoolhouse and became the largest adobe structure in California for its time, housing the only opera house south of San […]
Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas have long been known for their small town feel. Often those who grow up here end up returning for the picturesque charm and quaint community. For Margery Baragona, after being raised here and later returning, she has found that the area still has the same beauty and general feel […]
This was the 55th annual meeting for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) held in the Presidio Chapel. Board president Terease Chin called the meeting to order and said, “Let us have a moment of silence for the devastation we have all just been through.” As we all know, it’s hard to even […]
At the intersection of Stanwood Drive and Sycamore Canyon Road, a memorial fountain approaches its 100th year. Known as Jack’s Trough or Courtney Fountain, it was designed in 1925 by Lutah Maria Riggs of the George Washington Smith architectural firm for thrice-married Marguerite Doe. Known as the “Million Dollar Heiress” in her hometown of San […]
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County recently welcomed a new executive director with local roots, Meredith Hendricks, who brings 20 years of conservation, land management, and leadership experience to the County. Her successes with conservation and preservation projects in the San Francisco area will come into play as the Land Trust works to finalize […]
Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation presents a fundraising screening of the 2017 film Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, which describes Eduardo Garcia‘s rehabilitation journey following injuries he suffered from a massive electric shock while hunting. A classically trained chef who found his passion for cooking at an early age, Garcia cut his teeth in the industry […]
