Casa del Herrero (House of the Blacksmith) is a National Historic Landmark in Montecito near upper village. George and Carrie Steedman came to Santa Barbara in the early ‘20s from St. Louis with George’s brother. His brother was diabetic and needed insulin. The only place in the whole United States to get it at that […]
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 […]
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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 […]
Loureyro Roadis named for the family of Spanish-born José Maria Loureyro, a Basque who came to California in the 1850s. He served as president of the Santa Barbara City Board of Trustees in the 1860s and early ‘70s. In 1865 he approved an ordinance regarding the development of the streets in Santa Barbara, and in […]
While Montecito’s roads were a nameless, mazelike mess in the 1870s, by 1899, with the introduction of Rural Free Delivery postal service, order and identification began to be placed on the street system. (See MJ “Early Roads in Montecito” July 18, 2019.) All would remain dirt roads, however, until 1909, when the first few roads […]
In December 1870, a traveler from Santa Barbara rented a horse and buggy and attempted to visit Colonel Bradbury True Dinsmore at his ranch in El Montecito, stopping first at the famous big grapevine. So frustrating was this experience, he was moved to write of his travails in the local paper. Although he considered the […]
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 […]
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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 […]
Thirty years after it was first published, a third book on our rarefied enclave, Montecito III: History Never Ends, has just hit the bookshelves. David F. Myrick’s first tome in the series, Montecito: The Days of Great Estates, was followed three years later, in 1991, with the second volume, From Farms to Estates. Myrick died […]
After years of preparation and research, the third and final volume of historian David Myrick’s History of Santa Barbara and Montecito series is set to be released next week. Published by the Montecito Museum, the non-profit in charge of Myrick’s personal archives following his passing in 2011, this volume, titled History Never Ends, brings the […]
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) opened up a delightful exhibit of the fashionistas of the Old West and what they wore. There was the gamut from prairie dresses perfect for a crossing to California in a covered wagon to what the senoritas in Santa Barbara wore for a wedding in the days of the […]