Santa Barbara County Courthouse Docent Council Celebrates 50 Years of Service

Inside the intricately decorated Mural Room of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, Mayor Randy Rowse made a reluctant confession while standing in front of the massive mural that tells the tale of Santa Barbara’s founding: “I hate to admit this, but this is actually way cooler than the building we have at City Hall,” he laughed. The County Courthouse, which is a national historic landmark, is a prime example of the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style and is modeled on the castles of Andalusia.

Cool, indeed.

The beating heart of the ongoing effort to promote, advocate for, and educate visitors about this landmark lies with the Docent Council, the committee responsible for guiding thousands of visitors annually on free tours nearly every day of the year. The Council celebrated its 50th Anniversary on May 1 with a ceremony in the Mural Room attended by Mayor Rowse and representatives from the offices of Congressmember Salud Carbajal, Senator Monique Limon, Assemblymember Gregg Hart, and County Executive Mona Miyasato. 

The ceremony featured remarks from each representative, the bestowing of official certificates commemorating the date, and the honoring of past docents who were present during the first tour in 1974. Peggy Hayes, the most senior member of the Docent Council at 103 years old, received a rousing ovation as she entered the room and was all smiles during the ceremony.

“She is the epitome of everything that we want the Docent Council to be,” said Mary Folsom, the president of the Council Board.

Many of the 64 councilmembers were present for the event. “It really is a moment of a lifetime; it’s amazing for our docents to be here for such a milestone,” said Barbara Peters, a docent on the Anniversary Event Committee.

Rodney Baker, who has been a docent for 15 years, is also part of the Courthouse Legacy Foundation, which funds the conservation, preservation, restoration, enhancement, and educational legacy of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. He heads up many of the restoration efforts at the courthouse and recently led the restoration of a historic lamp in the first floor stairwell. The effort included cleaning the lamp and adding lightbulbs to the top of the massive light facing upward to better illuminate the historical and intricately decorated ceiling above it.

“We’ve been doing this for years. It makes a huge difference,” he said. “All the money that gets collected at the information booth from people donating and selling refrigerator magnets and postcards all goes into this fund, and it’s incredible how much is accumulated there. And it all goes back into the building.”

At the conclusion of the event, Kathy McColm, a docent of 11 years, took event-goers, tourists, and passersby alike on an hour-long tour of the nearly 100-year-old building. Guiding guests through the building’s history, art, and architecture, McColm dove deep and provided a wealth of information about the historic structure.

Now in its 50th year, the Docent Council shows no sign of slowing down its protection and preservation efforts of the building even the mayor admits is cool.

Find more about the Docent Council and their work on their website or Instagram page.