⁠In 1915, women in California could vote in local elections, but they would not be able to vote in national elections until 1920. Nothing stopped women from buying property and having a house built. However, single women doing this were certainly in the minority.⁠ ⁠ The first owner of the home at 212 East Mission Street, Edith Codman, was the daughter of a successful Boston attorney, and she was a graduate of Radcliffe College (1891).⁠ ⁠ Edith was a woman of the great outdoors. She never married, perhaps because she was too busy hiking and gardening. She was a member of the Sierra Club, as well as Santa Barbara’s Nature Study Club and Garden Club. She first visited Santa Barbara in 1903 on a nature excursion, when she was in her early forties.⁠ To read the full story, click on the link in our bio or visit independent.com. ⁠ 1. Exterior of East Mission Street house⁠. | Image credit: Betsy J. Green ⁠ 2. Walker A. Tompkins, who moved here in 1960. He is probably the best-known history writer in Santa Barbara. The world catalog website worldcat.org lists 79 nonfiction titles written by Tompkins. ⁠| Image credit: Courtesy ⁠ 3. “Two-Gun” Tompkins worked for decades on a 1928 typewriter, churning out dozens of cowboy novels with titles like 'Ghost Mine Gold,' 'Border Ambush,' and 'Deadhorse Express.'⁠ ⁠| Image credit: Courtesy ⁠