History of ...
Chumash Indian Village—For many centuries prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the late 1700s, Santa Barbara County was home to a large Chumash Indian population. Valleys such as this one were often the . . . — — Map (db m67196) HM
The California Department of Parks and Recreation has been awarded a federal TEA (Transportation Enhancement Activities) grant to fund the restoration of the Las Cruces Adobe. You may see historians, archaeologists and architects on site researching . . . — — Map (db m67195) HM
The moniker "World's Safest Beach” was initially used in the
1920's to attract visitors to Carpinteria's pristine beaches,
made "safe” by the sheltering Channel Islands. It later came
to be embraced by the local community as an emblem of . . . — — Map (db m147472) HM
The Bauhaus Brothers: Frank, Jack, Louis, and Will, pioneered
aviation in the Valley in 1919. Perfecting a new fuselage design
fashioned after barrel staves, their B-3 "Flying Keg” biplane
was lighter and faster than its popular contemporary, . . . — — Map (db m173762) HM
The Henry Fish Seed Company Packinghouse
For nearly a century, the Henry Fish Seed Company packinghouse stood on this site. Built in 1910 to replace a smaller facility, the packinghouse handled the yearly shipment of thousands of tons . . . — — Map (db m152496) HM
In 1769 a Spanish expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá discovered Chumash Indians building tomols, or plank canoes on the beach below their village. The Indians were caulking their tomols with asphaltum that came from natural oil seeps in the sand. . . . — — Map (db m165568) HM
The Chumash Indian Village of "Mishopshnow," discovered by Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, August 14, 1542, was located one-fourth mile southwest of here. Fray Juan Crespi of the Gaspar de Portola expedition named it "San Roque," August 17, 1769. Portola's . . . — — Map (db m138529) HM
The Chumash Indian Village of "Mishopshnow," discovered by Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, August 14, 1542, was located one-fourth mile southwest of here. Fray Juan Crespi of the Gaspar de Portola expedition named it "San Roque," August 17, 1769. Portola's . . . — — Map (db m147308) HM
Planted from a slip of Mission variety grape, this single vine eventually grew to cover half an acre, its massive trunk reaching nearly 10 feet in diameter. Its shady arbor was used as the county’s first polling place and as a site for social . . . — — Map (db m165569) HM
Oral tradition holds that this tree survives from the naming of "La Carpinteria" - the Carpenter Shop - on August 17, 1769 when the Portolá Expedition observed the Chumash building plank canoes at this site. — — Map (db m137942) HM
One of Carpinteria Valley's earliest American settlers, Russel Heath, built a two-story adobe home here in 1858. Heath served as Santa Barbara's district attorney, first
elected sheriff, and California state legislator. Heath planted his original . . . — — Map (db m147603) HM
Wardholme Torrey Pine, 1888.
Largest known in existence.
Historical Landmark No. 1, City of Carpinteria.
Torrey Pine centennial celebration,
May 14, 1988.
Presented by:
City of Carpinteria,
Chamber of Commerce,
and . . . — — Map (db m138543)
Arroyo Hondo creek has the best habitat on the south coast of Santa Barbara County for the endangered Southern California Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This native fish spends part of its life in freshwater streams like this one, and part . . . — — Map (db m71951)
Built in 1929, this was the first gas station of the Barnsdall-Rio Grande Oil Co., which drilled the Ellwood Oil Field Discovery Well in 1928. Wheeler's Restaurant (circa 1930) was adjacent to the station on the west side. "The Postman Always . . . — — Map (db m299966) HM
The Bicycle Craze
When the bicycling craze swept the country in the 1880s, the South Coast was not left behind.
By 1887 the Santa Barbara Wheeling Club was established. Avid local cyclists began organizing elaborate bicycle outings. . . . — — Map (db m283406) HM
An Unofficial Navy
In the early 19th century, Spanish colonies in the
New World ware struggling for independence and
devising ways to disrupt Spain's economic and
military power. One effective means was to hire privateers . . . — — Map (db m283407) HM
In 1868 this tavern was known as "Cold Spring Relay Station". It was the half-way stop between "Mattei's Tavern" to the north, and Patrick Kinevan's "Summit House" to the south.
In those days sturdy stagecoaches known as "mudwagons" traveled . . . — — Map (db m171314) HM
Santa Barbara Airport Terminal is hereby named Earle Ovington Terminal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to aviation and his part in the development of aviation in Santa Barbara.
Earle Ovington was the first pilot to carry air . . . — — Map (db m67194) HM
In 1906, guidepost bells were placed along the El Camino Real to guide early travelers and to preserve this historic route which linked California's missions beginning in 1769 — — Map (db m310315) HM
Here on Christmas Day, 1846 natives and soldiers from the Presidio of Santa Barbara lay in ambush for Lt. Col. John C. Fremont, U.S.A. and his battalion. Advised of the plot, Fremont was guided over the San Marcos Pass by Benjamin Foxen and his son . . . — — Map (db m159869) HM
People have lived along the Gaviota coast and its offshore islands for the past 13,000 years or more, By the 18th century, Native Americans speaking several
Chumash languages occupied the region from Malibu to at least Moro Bay
living close to the . . . — — Map (db m310302) HM
After conquering the Aztec empire in Mexico in 1521, Spain continued to expand its territories in the New World and persisted in its quest for a short route to the fabled riches of the Far East. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo led the first voyage of . . . — — Map (db m310305) HM
Under the command of Captain Gaspar de Portola, the first Spanish land
expedition made its way north along the California coast from San Diego in 1769, in search of Monterey Bay. Spain commissioned land exploration in the
hope of locating suitable . . . — — Map (db m310307) HM
Mission La Purisima Concepcion, founded in 1787, and Mission Santa Ines,
established in 1804, were both inland settlements, located near present-day
Lompoc and Solvang. Each of these missions also had an embarcadero, a
designated landing where . . . — — Map (db m310308) HM
One of the first ranchos created in California was Nuestra Señora del Refugio,
which permitted Jose Francisco Ortega, the retired commandante of Santa Barbara presidio, the use of mission lands along the Gaviota coast, beginning about 1797, . . . — — Map (db m310309) HM
By the mid 19th century the United States was expanding westward toward huge
territories loosely governed by Mexico. Though officially part of Mexico, these
sprawling territories were in fact too far from Mexico City and had been
neglected too . . . — — Map (db m310310) HM
Highway 101 has gone by many names: State Route 2, the Coast Highway, and
El Camino Real, the King's Highway. Originally a meandering foot trail that
followed the creek, Gaviota Pass was slightly widened for stagecoaches around
1861. Even so, the . . . — — Map (db m310311) HM
Following statehood, many Mexican ranchos were gradually broken up into
smaller land holdings. Ranchers and farmers from Gaviota and the Santa Ynez
Valley eager to get their produce to market, built a wharf for shipping wool,
grain and cattle. . . . — — Map (db m310312) HM
An Old Route
As you wind your way through Gaviota Pass, you're following a well used route. Chumash blazed the first creekside trail, Spanish missionaries on foot followed the path, horseback riders picked their way across boulders, . . . — — Map (db m283402) HM
On this site stands Goleta Depot, an enduring tribute to many who, with generous gifts of love, time, and resources made possible its acquisition, restoration, and maintenance as Santa Barbara County Landmark No. 22.
Built in 1901 near . . . — — Map (db m176316) HM
Built in 1875 by Thomas Hope of Ireland, the house was headquarters for the 4500-acre sheep ranch. The house, which was designed by Peter Barber, was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. George Obern in 1967 and restored to near original condition. — — Map (db m106424) HM
Near this site, at 7:07 P.M., February 23, 1942, the California coast at Ellwood received the first naval bombardment of the United States mainland since the War of 1812. — — Map (db m138649) HM WM
On February 23, 1942, at 7:00 PM, during one of President Roosevelt's Fireside Chats,
the Japanese submarine I-17 shelled this Richfield Oil Field site with 25 5-inch rounds.
Not since the War of 1812 had the U.S. mainland been attacked by a . . . — — Map (db m143317) HM
Strange Discovery
In 1853, the remains of small
"elephants" were discovered on Santa Rosa Island. Over the years the number of remains found continued to grow, and in 1925 this pygmy species was named Mammuthus exilis.
These . . . — — Map (db m283404) HM
This Building Was Originally Constructed in the 1920's by Earle Ovington on the Present-Day Santa
Barbara Community Golf Course as a Private Hangar for His Biplane. He Was the First Pilot to
Officially Carry U.S. Mail by Air in 1911. The Site Was . . . — — Map (db m161408) HM
Skyscrapers of the Sea
The land beneath the Santa Barbara Channel is rich with petroleum deposits. In the 1880s the first wells were drilled in shallow waters near shore. Within a few years, the beach was crowded with wooden piers . . . — — Map (db m283405) HM
Aleut Hunters
The first kayakers in these waters were hunters brought to California
from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. In the early 19th century Native
American Aleuts, forced to hunt under the banner of the Russian-American . . . — — Map (db m283401) HM
Crossing the Ocean
The Chumash paddled tomols - plank canoes - across the Santa Barbara Channel to fish, to trade, and to maintain kinship ties. Tomol builders occupied an elite place in Chumash society due to their special skills . . . — — Map (db m283403) HM
Built in 1912 by Ercolina Forni and Bergam
Carenini. First known as Palace Hotel. Sold
in 1944 to Elvezia and Angelo Ferrari. In
1958 purchased by Rosalie and Clarence
Minetti with Betty Jean and Richard
Maretti. This tavern has become . . . — — Map (db m161383) HM
Greater love has no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.
Dedicated to the American people in memory,
the spirit of the Vietnam veteran.
Dedicated by friends
SSgt James C Dorsi
1/18th Armored Cav A Troop 64/70 . . . — — Map (db m161698) WM
Spudded September 26, 1905, and completed April 30, 1906, is the first oil well in which a water shut-off was attained by pumping cement through the tubing and behind the casing--forerunner of the modern cementing technique.
It was drilled by . . . — — Map (db m50516) HM
Planted in the 1930's, this magnificent stand of pines is a treasure in Lompoc's landscape. Rare and historic, these trees receive global recognition for their beauty. — — Map (db m67214) HM
Established, December 8, 1787, by Father Lasuen. Damaged by earthquake, 1812; removed from control of Franciscans, abandoned 1834. State and National Park Service restoring major and many small structures, and water system. Only example in . . . — — Map (db m150261) HM
Established December 8, 1787, by Father Lasuen. Damaged by earthquake, 1812; removed from control of Franciscans, abandoned 1834. State and National Park Service restoring major and many small structures, and water system. Only example in California . . . — — Map (db m150262) HM
Across this bridge lies California's eleventh mission and a glimpse of life during the 1820's. The Civilian Conservation Corps restored the buildings and grounds between 1934 - 1941. We hope you enjoy your visit to the past. — — Map (db m11116) HM
Lompoc Carnegie Library
1910 - 1968
Historical Landmark No. 1
Dedicated August 31, 1968
Lompoc City Council and Lompoc Valley Historical Society, Inc. — — Map (db m67212) HM
Mission La Concepcion Purisima de Maria Santisima (Mission of the Immaculate Conception of most Holy Mary) was founded by Father Presidente Fermn de Lasuen on Dec. 8, 1787 at what is now Locust Avenue and F Street. It was the eleventh of 21 . . . — — Map (db m70318) HM
The fertile Santa Ynez River valley and a large population of Chumash Indians attracted the Franciscan missionaries of Spanish Alta California. Misión La Purísima Concepción
de María Santísimą was founded here on December 8, 1787, 11th of . . . — — Map (db m311527) HM
The Mission residents lived in and around an enclosed, four-sided building built of adobe bricks and roofed with tiles. The central quadrangle measured between 300 and 375 feet on each side and was lined around the interior, with a covered walkway: . . . — — Map (db m311524) HM
Built in 1905 of locally produced red brick and chalkrock, owned and operated continuously by Lompoc Lodge #248,
I.O.O.F. Hall Association — — Map (db m311450) HM
The ruins at this site are part of the original Mission La Purisima, founded by Padre Fermin de Lasuen on December 8, 1787, as the 11th in the chain of Spanish missions in California. The mission was destroyed by earthquake on December 21, 1812; the . . . — — Map (db m50517) HM
The Landsat program, a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has helped us understand our changing planet for five decades. The Landsat archive is the longest continuous space-based data record of Earth's land surface, and . . . — — Map (db m311515) HM
Dedicated to Robert C. Lilley
The Lilley Building was first built in 1890 and has been occupied continuously by the Lilley Family businesses from 1918 to the present. — — Map (db m311457) HM
In memory of the tragedy of
Point Pedernales / Honda Point
8 September 1923
USS Delphy
USS S.P. Lee
USS Young
USS Woodbury
USS Nichols
USS Fuller
USS Chauncey
Dedicated 8 September 1983
by the American Legion . . . — — Map (db m70358) HM
On this site the original 1880 Union Hotel served as telegraph
office and Wells, Fargo & Company's stagecoach stop. Destroyed
by fire in 1893, reconstructed and restored in 1915, the old hotel
serviced stagecoach and early railroad passengers . . . — — Map (db m150260) HM
Built in 1880 by Alfed Newman
In 1900 the store was purchased by Max King and renamed "The Emporium"
It became the property of Mr. and Mrs. G. Harold Mather in 1971 when they restored it to its original character and charm. — — Map (db m161422) HM
Established in 1880, the original Union Hotel burned in 1893 but was rebuilt in 1915. The previous and present structures have been a part of Santa Barbara County history for over a century. The Union Hotel has hosted, and withstood, generations of . . . — — Map (db m143887) HM
Los Olivos lies on rancho land originally granted by
Governor Micheltorena in 1843.
1861 marks the year that Overland Stage Coach Line
first traveled to Los Olivos. 1868 was the year that the Overland Stage first traveled over San Marcos Pass . . . — — Map (db m161827) HM
Built in 1885, this redwood home is the
oldest wood struçture in the Santa Ynez
Valley. Alden Boyd, from Albany NY,
built his home on its original home site
on Alamo Pintado Rd. near the township
of Ballard. Boyd planted 5,000 olive . . . — — Map (db m161708) HM
By being the sole woman to join the Bidwell - Barttleston Party, the earliest organized overland immigrant party into California, Nancy Kelsey became the first American woman to come across the plains and transverse the rugged Sierra Nevada. She . . . — — Map (db m101142) HM
This cannon is a replica of one of the six pound
bronze guns supplied to the U.S. revenue cutter
"Lawrence” when it served under the command of
Captain Ottinger, patrolling the California Coast
from 1843 to 1851. Gun powder was poured into . . . — — Map (db m161482) HM
Thought to have once been the Indian Village of Syujtun, this site has yielded some of the most important archeological evidence found in California. In 1542 the village was recorded by Cabrillo while on his Voyage of Discovery, and again, in 1769, . . . — — Map (db m137508) HM
Syuxtun (where the Two Trails Run) Village with nearly 500 inhabitants was one of the largest of some 150 villages on the
coast. Ideally located, about where you are standing now, approximately 650 feet
from the beach and just west of Mission . . . — — Map (db m235958) HM
Built by Indian labor in 1817 for Don Domingo Carrillo, whose daughter married Don Jose Maria Covarrubias in 1838. Descendants of these families, many of them leaders in public affairs, occupied this house for over a century. Don Jose Maria was the . . . — — Map (db m50550) HM
Dedicated to the memory of the early Goleta Valley homesteaders who banded together and built the one-room schoolhouse which opened in the fall of 1877. — — Map (db m300026) HM
The walls inside the cave above you are covered
with mysterious red, black, and white images.
Who were the artists who created these paintings?
Why did they choose this cave for their canvas?
What do the intricate images mean?
We know . . . — — Map (db m244905) HM
The Cold Spring Arch Bridge, built by the California
Department of Transportation, at the time of construction was
one of the longest steel arch bridges built in the United States.
It was also one of the first major arch structures to use . . . — — Map (db m244974) HM
Near this site August 26, 1850, two weeks before California Statehood, duly elected common council, City of Santa Barbara, held first official meeting. Here in 1875, first City Hall erected and area still center of city's governmental activities. . . . — — Map (db m50548) HM
Chief Scout for Gaspar de Portolá. Ortega assisted with the founding of Mission San Buenaventura and established the presidio at Santa Barbara where he served as commandant from 1781-1784. Husband of Doña María Carrillo. — — Map (db m131602) HM
Perhaps the person who did the most to shape the Santa Barbara Zoo is its Director Emeritus, Edward "Ted" McToldridge.
A local contractor, McToldridge volunteered at the zoo early on and was eventually hired
as Park Superintendent (title later . . . — — Map (db m307338) HM
El Capitán Portolá of the Royal Spanish Army camped here with his party on August 18, 1769 on his trip to establish California as a colony of Spain. — — Map (db m167407) HM
In appreciation
of the choice of
Santa Barbara by
the first ruling
sovereign of Europe
to visit America,
Albert the First,
heroic King of the
Belgians - Queen
Elizabeth and the
Duke of Brabant
October 11-13-1919. — — Map (db m143975) HM
On this site, from 1916 to 1921, some of the finest airplanes in early
American aviation were built. John K. Northrup, a 1919 Santa Barbara
High School graduate, joined with Allan and Malcolm Loughead
(later known as Lockheed) to build the . . . — — Map (db m161410) HM
Built in 1826 by Daniel Hill of Massachusetts for his bride Rafaela Luisa Ortega y Olivera, granddaughter of José Francisco Ortega, founder and first Comandante of the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara. Later occupied by the family of Guillermo . . . — — Map (db m50559) HM
John Peck Stearns arrived in Santa Barbara in 1867
and built the town's first lumber mill.
Frustrated with the rickety wharf at the
foot of Chapala Street, Stearns built his own wharf,
which soon created an economic boom
for Santa . . . — — Map (db m161726) HM
The Hotel Virginia at 17 West Haley Street was originally built in 1916 as a two-story brick hotel by Charles Maas, with a third story addition in 1925. Haley at this time was a residential street with small redwood homes set on large lots. The . . . — — Map (db m106957) HM
His officers and soldiers and Fray Juan Crespi (diarist) the first white men to march through the wilderness of California. Arrived at Santa Barbara Aug. 18-20, 1769, and camped in this vicinity. — — Map (db m178191) HM
An adobe house was built here in 1857 where Don Agustin Janssens, a Belgian, and his wife, Maria Antonia Pico, lived into the 1870s. Janssens, a frequent office holder in the region, had arrived in California in 1834. Don Bruno F. Orella, a native . . . — — Map (db m106411) HM
On this site, February 22, 1873, Jose Lobero, impressario and musician, opened the first legitimate theatre in southern California. The Lobero continues to serve the cultural interests of Santa Barbara one hundred years later. — — Map (db m50920) HM
Indian woman abandoned on San Nicolas Island eighteen years. Found and brought to Santa Barbara by Capt. George Nidever in 1853. — — Map (db m157886) HM
The present Los Baños del Mar Pool represents the third public
facility to be situated in the Plaza del Mar Park area. In November
1899, the bathhouse site property was deeded to the Santa Barbara
County Chamber of Commerce through the probate . . . — — Map (db m167411) HM
Santa Barbara Mission was founded December 4, 1786. Portions of five units of its extensive water works, built by Indian labor, are preserved in this park - a filter house, Spanish grist mill, sections of aqueducts, and two reservoirs. The larger . . . — — Map (db m147959) HM
Soon after the establishment of Mission
Santa Barbara in 1786, an expanding population
resulted in increasing demands for water for
domestic and agricultural use, as well as milling
and tanning. The severe droughts of 1794 and
1795 prompted . . . — — Map (db m236028) HM
In 1876, a visiting sailor presented the seedling of this Moreton Bay Fig Tree to a little girl who planted it at 201 State Street. When the girl moved away a year later, her friend Adeline Crabb relocated the sapling to the location before you. . . . — — Map (db m115203) HM
Myron Hunt was one of the leading architects
involved in the development of
regional architecture for Southern California.
The classical Mediterranean look
of most of the important public buildings and
large residential estates has . . . — — Map (db m147419) HM
In the late 1800’s, ten percent of Santa Barbara’s population was Chinese, who formed a community along the first two blocks of Cañon Perdido Street and parts of Anacapa and Santa Barbara Streets. Flourishing within Chinatown were grocery stores, . . . — — Map (db m303530) HM
Jose Lobero opened the region's first legitimate theatre on this site February 22, 1873. For many years the old theatre was the center of social life in Santa Barbara. A new Lobero Theatre, opened in 1924 on the same site, continues to serve the . . . — — Map (db m126018) HM
"The first overland stage coach arrived in
Santa Barbara on Monday evening, April 1, 1861,
celebrated by firing of cannon, etc."
Many of Santa Barbara County's own stage
coach runs started from this spot
which marks the location of the . . . — — Map (db m161817) HM
These sliding wood doors were once part of the street facade of the
Pacific Produce Company,
a Vernacular-style commercial building
located at 735 Chapala Street.
Built in 1921, the building incorporated two sets
of sliding wood panel and . . . — — Map (db m236240) HM
In commemoration of the historic meeting in Santa Barbara of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and His Royal Highness the Prince, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with the President of the United States, Ronald W. . . . — — Map (db m135686) HM
Constructed with the Southern Pacific Depot in 1905, these two railroad spurs are the sole reminder of the turn-of-the century days when wealthy travelers arrived in Santa Barbara in their private Pullman railcars to spend the winter. These private . . . — — Map (db m138508) HM
First arrived in Santa Barbara
Harbor in 1835 on the brig Pilgrim
after 150 days at sea from Boston.
Best known for his classic work Two Years Before the Mast.
Dana, a Harvard graduate, vividly recalled life in
California's . . . — — Map (db m161719) HM
