Local History

Silent-movie star Mary Pickford came to Montecito to film a scene for “Stella Maris.” 

Dr. William Sansum was the first U.S. physician to administer and manufacture insulin and saved millions of lives with his work in diabetes research 100 years ago.

Pearl Chase, along with publisher Thomas Storke and other community leaders, was instrumental in the evolution of the educational institution from Santa Barbara State College to the establishment of the university in 1944.

When Santa Barbara’s “Flying A” film studio wanted to film a movie with rain in May, they had to make their own weather.

Charlie Chaplin made his first visit to Santa Barbara in June 1915.

Santa Barbara to celebrate Stearns Wharf's 150th birthday with deals on Wednesday.

This silent movie was released on January 5, 1914. It was filmed in Sycamore Canyon in Montecito.

Scenes for this silent movie were filmed in the gardens of the Gillespie estate in Montecito by the Selig Polyscope Company.

A Santa Ana developer is buying Ellwood Cooper's old farm in Goleta and has plans to develop where historic buildings and a Champion Tree are not legally protected from demolition.

In the early years of movies, studios had neither budget nor equipment for special effects, so they leapt into action to film natural disasters such as floods, forest fires, and shipwrecks, to work them into a film

Betsy provides an update on her mission to count every remaining historical hitching post in town.

A million-dollar mansion in Montecito was the stand-in for Hawaii when the movie “Aloha Oe” was released on December 12, 1915.

Pearl Chase was instrumental in the restoration of La Purisima Mission and the day to celebrate its dedication took place during a historical moment.

One of the most popular productions filmed by Santa Barbara’s “Flying A” was the 30-part serial called “The Diamond from the Sky,” released in 1915.

The Goleta slough as we know it today is a narrow, semi stagnant waterway that winds through the large marsh beside the airport.

“East Lynne” was a silent movie filmed in the months before the big 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake.

This is the busy season for the experts who answer questions at the Butterball Turkey Company.

November 16 marks the birthday of Santa Barbara's most well-known civic leader, Pearl Chase.

During World War I, Santa Barbara author Marion Craig Wentworth wrote a play called "War Brides."

In honor of Veteran's Day, a local videographer shares a segment of their grandmother's memorial video where she discusses her experiences living through World War II.

I’m doing a survey of hitching posts in Santa Barbara and I need your help!

The 1919 silent movie “Bonds of Love” takes place in a mansion on the East Coast, but the movie was actually filmed by Hollywood’s Goldwyn studio in one of the million-dollar mansions in Montecito

On October 27, 1913, the Santa Barbara “Flying A” film studio released “In the Days of Trajan,” a movie set in Ancient Rome featuring men in sandals and skirts.

“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.