Tag archives: Santa Barbara Courthouse
Many folks don’t realize there is a group that looks after the preservation of our Santa Barbara Courthouse called the Courthouse Legacy Foundation. During Fiesta they gave their annual party in the Mural Room and adjoining balcony where guests could look over into the Sunken Garden to view the Noches de Ronda show going on […]
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse Docent Council reopened the courthouse for tours this past Monday, June 13. The courthouse, constructed in 1929 following the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake, is a landmark popular among both locals and visitors. Free one-hour tours are offered Monday through Friday at 10:30 am and 2:00 pm, with no reservation required. […]
My tastes in most categories are very conventional, so most of my favorites probably will not surprise you. In poetry, for example, at the top of my personal list is the piece known as “Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard” – not to be confused with Gray’s Allergy. [Only kidding.] One reason I like it […]
One of these days the Santa Barbara Courthouse will be open to the public once again. Meantime there is an interesting story about the sixth Theo Van Cina painting that hangs on the ground floor near the lawyer’s entrance titled “Fiesta at the Courthouse,” circa 1930s. There are five others on the second floor: “Cabrillo […]
The Santa Barbara Courthouse docents just announced a self-guided walking tour of the courthouse exterior starting Labor Day weekend using your cell phone or tablet or to view the tour on a computer anywhere with wifi. The courthouse interior remains closed except for official court business and docent-led tours are suspended due to COVID-19. Docents […]
My docent tour of the Santa Barbara Courthouse began in the Mural Room and proceeded through the second floor and out the back by the old jail. We crossed the grounds to the Hall of Records and ended up in front of the courthouse. As we walk along the path you see three plaques. The […]
As my docent Courthouse tour continues, we have exited the Mural Room and walked into the Lobby just outside the door on the second floor. We see the nine-by-twelve-foot painting of the landing of Juan Cabrillo which Dan Groesbeck had painted in 1924 for County National Bank. It was influential in his being chosen to […]
The Sunken Gardens at the Santa Barbara Courthouse is off limits for events as the coronavirus pandemic continues, as UCSB Arts & Lectures summer film series’ grass-fed version of beach blanket bingo would surely lead to a bounce in new cases of COVID-19. Instead, pivoting has produced a more practical solution for the free annual […]
Nearly 3,000 protestors marched through downtown Santa Barbara to face the Police Department Sunday, culminating in a blowout between protestors, police, and Mayor Cathy Murillo. “We are going to occupy State Street,” said Krystle Farmer, one of the organizers of the event. The protest was orchestrated by the Black Lives Matter SB group, headed by […]
The Santa Barbara Courthouse docents are beginning a new training class in January 2020. They need many to keep up with a busy schedule – Monday through Friday at 10:30 am and 2 pm and Saturday and Sundays at 2 pm. Meantime we all gathered at the La Cumbre Country Club for a festive holiday […]
The Courthouse Legacy Foundation (CLF) gives one of my favorite Fiesta parties of the week. It’s held on the 2nd floor of the Santa Barbara Courthouse overlooking the Sunken Garden and Las Noches de Ronda. There were tables in the Mural Room for sitting and eating the taco buffet or you could be on the […]
Our Courthouse is a City, State, and National landmark. There are only four National Historic landmarks in Santa Barbara: the Courthouse, the Mission, Casa del Herrero, and the Rafael Gonzalez adobe. Yet, surprisingly there are no funds in the budget to maintain and or restore the Courthouse. If it weren’t for the Courthouse Legacy Foundation […]
