Tag archives: history

Crane Brings Boston to Montecito
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 24, 2021

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 […]

Mission Creek Options
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 24, 2021

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 […]

Citizen Ganna: How Lotusland’s founder helped inspire one of the greatest films of all time
By Pauline O'Connor   |   May 20, 2021

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 […]

Tale of the Hobo Artist: John Dwight Bridge Enters Existential Crisis That Leads Him Around the World
By Hattie Beresford   |   May 20, 2021

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 […]

A Successful Prelude: John Dwight Bridge and his Impact on Santa Barbara’s Cultural Renaissance
By Hattie Beresford   |   May 13, 2021

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 […]

Marguerite Ravenscroft
By Hattie Beresford   |   April 22, 2021

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 […]

Polo and Ponies
By Lynda Millner   |   March 11, 2021

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 […]

Red-Letter Days for CAMA
By Hattie Beresford   |   March 11, 2021

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!) […]

Founding the Granada Theatre
By Hattie Beresford   |   March 4, 2021

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 […]

Drought & Flood
By James Buckley   |   February 18, 2021

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 […]

Cultural Moments
By Lynda Millner   |   February 11, 2021

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 […]

Senior Portrait: Margery Baragona
By Zach Rosen   |   February 11, 2021

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 […]

SB Trust for Historic Preservation
By Lynda Millner   |   February 1, 2021

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 […]

The Story Behind the Fountain on Sycamore Canyon
By Hattie Beresford   |   January 7, 2021

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 […]

For Love of the Land
By Hattie Beresford   |   December 3, 2020

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 Rehab’s Evening of Empowering Entertainment
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 13, 2020

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 […]

Its Mission is Preserving the Missions
By Lynda Millner   |   September 10, 2020

According to the California Missions Foundation press brochure, “Nothing defines California and our nation’s heritage as significantly or emotionally as do the 21 missions that were founded along the coast from San Diego to Sonoma. Their beauty, stature, and character underlie the formation of California. Over time, many mission enclaves have developed into some of […]

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church – Part 1
By Hattie Beresford   |   July 23, 2020

St. Paul’s has been nominated to become a Santa Barbara City historic landmark and is working toward State and National recognition as well. Organized by architect Robert Ooley, F.A.I.A., a group of volunteers has been gathering historic information about the church to support the nominations; I was lucky enough to be among them. The African […]

Montecito’s Latter Day Adobes
By Hattie Beresford   |   June 25, 2020

Isolated from most of my historical resources, I am turning to the work of those who have come before me, most especially, my friend and mentor, the late Maria Herold, longtime volunteer curator of the Montecito Association History Committee. Maria’s passion for the history of Montecito led her to walk every street, knock on every […]

The Wildest Place In Town
By Lynda Millner   |   June 18, 2020

The wildest place in town has to be the Santa Barbara Zoo and certainly a child’s favorite. When I moved here in the ‘70s I thought the Child estate related to children because the Zoo was there. I soon learned it had once been Lillian Child’s property. When she passed away it eventually became a […]