Santa Barbara County history

The famed Stearns Wharf is the oldest working wharf in California, built in 1872 by John Peck Stearns.

Following the arrival (1887) of the Southern Pacific Railroad, Santa Barbara was promoted as a seaside resort and developed an economy based on tourism, the raising of citrus fruit and cattle, and the production of petroleum.

In 1919, Johnston McCulley began to write a series of popular novels about a swashbuckling champion of justice.

Spanish settlers gave the city its distinct architectural style in the form of Old Mission Santa Barbara and what is now the County Courthouse — a style that was carried forward by local visionaries after a massive earthquake destroyed much of the area’s infrastructure in 1925.

He eventually landed in Long Beach, California, where his sister Julie had settled, and in 1936 she persuaded him to join her in the local theatre guild.

He launched his film career with a bit role in a Hopalong Cassidy western, Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943), which led to other small roles and eventually a contract with RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Despite earning an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance as a noble captain in the war drama The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), Mitchum is not remembered for playing typical Hollywood protagonists in conventional dramas.

He was particularly praised for his portrayals of a murderous preacher in The Night of the Hunter (1955), a sympathetic marine in Heaven Knows, Mr.