Local History

A photo from the 1913 “Flying A” silent movie “In the Days of Trajan,” which was set in Ancient Rome, had a prop that was all wrong in a couple of ways.

No Goleta history would be complete without the story of Nicolas Den, the don of Dos Pueblos, and his positive influence on the whole county

This silent movie with the provocative title was released by Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio in 1915.

The American Film Company, the "Flying A," settled in Santa Barbara in 1912, but other silent movie studios filmed here before that. In fact, movies made by other film companies might have inspired the "Flying A" to move here.

Santa Barbara's Stearns Wharf turns 150 on Friday. Learn more about a scheduled birthday bash and the history of our iconic wharf.

Reader Joe shares a colorized photo of Old Mission Santa Barbara from the 1890s.

Some of the earliest silent films that Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio filmed in Montecito were costume dramas.

Tom Modugno reports an effort to make two original airplane hangars in Goleta an aviation museum.

In “Medallion,” a 1911 silent movie, the Santa Barbara Mission represents a monastery in Italy during the 1600s.

Reader Bill shares photos of the Ellwood Piers taken in 1975.

In the 1920s, a super-sexy woman was called a “vamp,” and her uber-seductive activities were termed “vamping."

Reader Joe colorized a historic Santa Barbara photo of harbor sailboats.

The “Flying A” released “For the Flag” on August 25, 1913. This silent movie takes place about 1900 during the Philippine-American War, which was fresh in people’s minds back then, but is mostly forgotten today.

A silent movie released by “Flying A” in 1915 deals with a wealthy young woman who has a child out of wedlock, and ends up marrying the father of the child, but not before a whole lot of unpleasant stuff goes down.

Most of the silent films made in Montecito used the million-dollar mansions as the locale, but not this one, released by the “Flying A” on August 3, 1915.

Old Mission Santa Barbara honors two employees who served the mission for over 60 years, greeting dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth and Nancy Reagan. 

The "Flying A" supplied a bunch of the studio's best riders for the July 4 rodeo in 1916. 

Several of the silent movies filmed at Montecito's million-dollar mansions had a religious theme.

Can readers help identify locals in a photo from 1976?

“Movies & Million-Dollar Mansions – Silent movies made in Montecito, CA” has just been published by yours truly.

America's first supermodel, Audrey Munson, left Santa Barbara for Hollywood in 1916.

In July 1916, Santa Barbara residents saw a big movie announcement in the local paper.

Apparently, when the "Flying A" decided to film outside their studio on Mission and Chapala streets, they did not have to ask permission or give any notice.

The “Flying A” released “The Dream Ship,” on June 16, 1914. This fantasy was inspired by a poem which says that in dreamland, a king and a pauper can change places

I was very happy to be able to match up a scene from the "Flying A" film called "Nancy's Husband" with a photo of the floating Japanese summer house at the old estate in Montecito called Riso Rivo.

Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio was not the only company filming in our area.

The “Flying A” Studio put out a call for a dog to play an important role in a new film back in 1916. 

At the far west end of Goleta the Tecolote Canyon winds down from the uppermost reaches of the Santa Ynez mountains.

There were a number of female movie directors during the silent film period (before c.1930), but not many of them were directing movies in our area.

An edhat reader visited the Arlington Theatre and listed to the organ music.