bjgreen
By Betsy J. Green
It’s always hard to pin down something that’s said to be the first, but here goes. In 1904, our local paper reported:
“This morning at 10 o’clock the local fire department will be photographed by a moving picture camera while it makes a dash from the city hall down State Street as far as Cota.” – Morning Press, December 22, 1904
Then, a few weeks later:
“At the opera house [the old Lobero Theater] . . . Don’t fail to see the Santa Barbara fire department run, taken by the Bioscope [see image] company, the first and only moving picture ever taken here.” – Morning Press, January 23, 1905
Betsy’s Way Back When book — 1919 — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the sixth book in her series of the history of Santa Barbara, one year at a time. Learn more at .
