Local History

“The Miracle of Life” (1915) was an unusual “Flying A” movie about abortion; some scenes were filmed at a million-dollar mansion in Montecito.

A number of Santa Barbara’s citizens had bit parts in the movies that were produced by the historic “Flying A” movie studio.

In 1915, a $5,000 "photoplayer" was installed in one of the movie theaters on State Street for silent movies.

On this day 50 years ago, the Romero Fire was started in the hills above Montecito.

The American Film Company ("Flying A") was not the only movie studio headquartered in Santa Barbara over 100 years ago.

In 1918, Vitagraph Studios used the Gillespie estate in Montecito as the location for a movie set in the South Seas during World War I.

On this day 57 years ago, the Coyote Fire started off of Coyote Rd. east of Sycamore Canyon.

Way back when, movie crews did not need permits to film out in the open, and this sometimes caused a problem here.

Many of the movies filmed in Montecito were set in exotic locales such as Hawaii, Ancient Rome, or France in the 1500s.

Some scenes from the 1916 silent movie version of "Ramona" were said to be filmed in Santa Barbara, and it sure looks like the Mission in the photos above, but apparently not.

Growing up in Goleta, Turnpike had one meaning; it was the next big street after Patterson, but there's a bigger story behind it.

Handsome hunk Bill Russell was one of the most popular leading men at the “Flying A.” He starred in dozens of movies from 1913 to 1921.

Does anyone know when Bank's Stationery Store on State Street closed?

It was 1904 when Santa Barbara was first captured by a moving picture camera.

UCSB Library digitizes the Santa Barbara Gazette, the city’s first newspaper.

A movie starring Norma Talmadge was released on August 6, 1923, and most of it was filmed at the first Bellosguardo estate in Montecito.

Horses and cars coexisted peacefully as transportation for the "Flying A" studio in 1912.

In 1916 the local papers warned about an X-rated movie named "Purity" that was filmed in Montecito.

The Santa Barbara newspaper in 1912 detailed an interesting story of electricians being chased off an ostrich farm at State and Islay Streets.

In a prime example of inter-library collaboration, the Santa Barbara Public Library recently partnered with the UCSB Library Special Research Collections to preserve more than 3,000 historic photos of Santa Barbara County.

The process of filming silent movies over 100 years ago at the local “Flying A” studio was anything but silent.

You may already know about two historic Goleta hangars, but lately, a couple of different groups have begun to organize plans to try to save them.

The “Flying A” filmed this movie at one of the mansions in Montecito in 1916.

In 1912, a trained burro stole the scene during a movie being filmed in Hope Ranch.

Everybody knows and loves this beautiful old building. We have for decades. And we are all waiting patiently for the city to save it.

There were still hitching posts on State Street in 1912 when the cowboy actors from the “Flying A” rode into the city.

Every June 17 and any time the thermometer tops 100 degrees the story is retold of “Santa Barbara’s Hottest Day” on June 17, 1859, when the temperature reached an astounding 133 degrees.

In 1912, “Flying A” actors and film crews often showed up unannounced and startled Santa Barbara residents.

Does anyone remember the bombing in Stonehenge Jewelry in the 70s?

A 1912 newspaper clipping explains why the Flying A movie studio moved to Santa Barbara from San Diego over 100 years ago.