Beginning on Tuesday, February 25, local historian Erin Graffy will host a special lecture series on Montecito history, as part of Santa Barbara City College’s School of Extended Learning. “In the past I’ve hosted lectures on Santa Barbara history, and I’ve been asked to focus now on Montecito,” Graffy said. “We’ll cover such themes as […]
“It is a perhaps a little humiliating to us that we should have to wait till a stranger should come across the continent to reveal to us the beauties that lie at our door,” said the Reverend J.W. Hough at the library soiree in the Odd Fellows Building on State Street in September 1875. He […]
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Once upon a time pepper trees reigned supreme in California, and their unique and ubiquitous presence inspired Eastern visitors to succumb to paroxysms of poetic expression. One visitor to Santa Barbara in 1874 enthused about its umbrageous and graceful foliage. Another commented on lanes of pepper trees whose wonderful feathery foliage and gorgeous scarlet berries […]
Nearly a hundred members and guests gathered at the Santa Barbara Club at the end of October to celebrate the clubhouse’s entry onto the National Register of Historic Places. After an elegant reception featuring tasty tapas, wine and bonhomie, Santa Barbara Club president John Brinker unveiled the brass plaque bearing the distinction of national historic […]
After the first article on roads, Judy (Guitteau) Pearce, who grew up in Montecito and has written many articles about its past, contacted me. I thought others would like to read her charming anecdotes about the Montecito Oaks tract off Olive Mill Road, so here it is: Hattie, I was so excited to see your […]
Alida Aldrich was born in 1947 in Hancock Park, California to famed Hollywood director Robert Aldrich (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, the Dirty Dozen and the Longest Yard); her mother was Grace Foster. Both were from Warwick Neck, Rhode Island, the tony enclave on the Narragansett Bay – across from Newport. Her parents were born […]
The first of Erin Graffy‘s almost always informative and often amusing talks, this time covering (and uncovering) the history of four different Santa Barbara neighborhoods has already taken place, but there are three more and they’re all worth attending. The neighborhoods are Samarkand, Hope Ranch, Montecito, and Hidden Valley, and Erin says her four-part series […]
In 1874, author Charles Nordhoff, at the behest of the Southern Pacific Railroad, published a second edition of his California for Health, Pleasure and Residence. In it, he languished praise on Santa Barbara as the loveliest spot in California and promoted its health benefits. Soon the small influx of Easterners escaping the harsh winter months […]
Once inhabited by the native Chumash, the lands of Tajiguas Ranch on the Gaviota Coast became part of the Spanish and then Mexican land grant known as Nuestra Señora del Refugio. The Tajiguas portion was sold in 1870 to Amasa L. Lincoln and Francis C. Young, who attempted to make a living off of its […]
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Lying among the rolling hills and fresh arroyos of the Gaviota coast, Rancho Tajiguas has been a favored spot for times immemorial. The 1769 Portola expedition, which prepared the way for Spanish settlement of Alta California, camped for the night at its mouth and were welcomed and entertained by the Chumash peoples living in two […]
On four separate occasions over the past 40 years, my husband and I have evacuated due to wildfire. Each time, the first possessions that are packed in the car are our family photos. More important than art, electronics, books (well, maybe), or clothing, are the images of the important people, times, and events in our […]
The Atchison family came to Santa Barbara from Centralia, Washington, in 1912 seeking health for the father who suffered from chronic stomach problems. Alas, salubrious Santa Barbara was not able to work its magic on Garrett, and he died that July. His wife Sarah had set up housekeeping in a home on Carrillo Street, and […]
In 1912, Santa Barbara motorists heading toward North County had a major decision to make. Where were they going to cross the Santa Ynez River? There were only two bridges, one near Lompoc and the other, aptly called Mission Bridge, that crossed the river at today’s Solvang. To get to either required negotiating dozens of […]
Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) is deep in the midst of its centennial season that celebrates the major milestone with a crowded calendar of events. The 100th anniversary kicked off early in the fall with a gala honoring philanthropist Sara Miller McCune at the Four Seasons Biltmore, staged a red carpet reception before the annual […]
