Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...
") is a coastal city in
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
, of which it is also the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
, the city lies between the steeply rising
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges.
The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...
and the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, and the city has been dubbed "The American Riviera". According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 88,665.
In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city has a diverse economy that includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. In 2004, the service sector accounted for 35% of local employment. Education in particular is well represented, with four institutions of higher learning nearby: the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
,
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus.
History
Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...
,
Westmont College
Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937.
History
Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...
, and
Antioch University
Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its n ...
. The city is served by
Santa Barbara Airport
Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States. SBA covers 948 acres (384 ha) of land and has three runways.
It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the city of Goleta. The ai ...
and train service is provided by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
, which operates the
Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
, which runs from
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
to
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
. The Santa Barbara area is connected via
U.S. Highway 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to the southeast and
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to the northwest. Behind the city, in and beyond the Santa Ynez Mountains, is the
Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
, which contains several remote wilderness areas.
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park consists of five of the eight Channel Islands of California, Channel Islands off the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populate ...
and
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a sanctuary off the Pacific coast of Southern California. The National Marine Sanctuary program is under the administration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Established ...
are located approximately offshore.
History
Evidence of human habitation of the area begins at least 13,000 years ago. Evidence for a Paleoindian presence includes a fluted Clovis-like point found in the 1980s along the western Santa Barbara County coast, as well as the remains of
Arlington Springs Man
The Arlington Springs man is a set of Late Pleistocene human remains discovered in 1959 on Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands located off the coast of Southern California. The Arlington Springs archeological site is protected within no ...
, found on Santa Rosa Island in the 1960s. At least 25,000
Chumash Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California
See also
* Chumash traditional ...
natives lived in the region prior to Spanish contact. Five Chumash villages flourished in the area. The present-day area of Santa Barbara City College was the village of ''Mispu''; the site of the Los Baños pool (along west beach) was the village of ''Syukhtun'', chief Yanonalit's large village located between Bath and Chapala streets; ''Amolomol'' was at the mouth of Mission Creek; and ''Swetete'', above the bird refuge.
Spanish era
Spanish explorer
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ( pt, João Rodrigues Cabrilho; c. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the firs ...
, sailing for the
Kingdom of Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, sailed through what is now called the
Santa Barbara Channel
The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Count ...
in 1542, anchoring briefly in the area. In 1602, Spanish maritime explorer
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia.
Early career
Vizcaíno was born in 154 ...
gave the name "Santa Barbara" to the channel and also to one of the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname).
It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible.
Notable peo ...
visited around 1769, and Franciscan missionary
Juan Crespi
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
, who accompanied the expedition, named a large native town "Laguna de la Concepcion". Cabrillo's earlier name, however, is the one that has survived.
The first permanent European residents were Spanish missionaries and soldiers under
Felipe de Neve
Felipe de Neve y Padilla (1724 – 3 November 1784) was a Spanish soldier who served as the 4th Governor of the Californias, from 1775 to 1782. Neve is considered one of the founders of Los Angeles and was instrumental in the foundation of San ...
, who arrived in 1782 and constructed the
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
. They were sent to both secure the Spanish claim to the region and to convert the
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Many of the Spaniards brought their families with them, and those formed the nucleus of the small town – at first just a cluster of adobes – that surrounded the
Presidio of Santa Barbara
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
. The Santa Barbara Mission was established on the Feast of
Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...
, December 4, 1786. It was the tenth of the California Missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans. It was dedicated by Padre
Fermín Lasuén Fermín or Fermin may refer to:
* Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a legendary holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. His death may be associated with e ...
, who succeeded Padre Junipero Serra as the second president and founder of the California Franciscan Mission Chain. The Chumash laborers built a connection between the canyon creek and the Santa Barbara Mission water system through the use of a dam and an aqueduct. During the following decades, many of the natives died of diseases such as
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, against which they had no
natural immunity
In biology, immunity is the capability of multicellular organisms to resist harmful microorganisms. Immunity involves both specific and nonspecific components. The nonspecific components act as barriers or eliminators of a wide range of pathogens ...
.
The most dramatic event of the Spanish period was the powerful 1812 earthquake, and
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
, with an estimated magnitude of 7.1, which destroyed the Mission as well as the rest of the town; water reached as high as present-day Anapamu street, and carried a ship half a mile up Refugio Canyon. The Mission was rebuilt by 1820 after the earthquake. Following the earthquake, the Mission fathers chose to rebuild in a grander manner, and it is this construction that survives to the present day, the best-preserved of the California Missions, and still functioning as an active church by the Franciscans. After the Mexican government secularized the missions in the 1830s, the baptismal, marriage, and burial records of other missions were transferred to Santa Barbara, and now found in the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library.
The Spanish period ended in 1822 with the conclusion of the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
, which terminated 300 years of Spanish colonial rule and transferred control to the newly independent Mexican government.
Santa Barbara street names reflect the influence of the Spanish period. The names ''de le Guerra'' and ''Carrillo'' come from the Guerra family of California and Carrillo family of California. They were instrumental in building up the town, so they were honored by having streets named after them.
Mexican era
After the forced secularization of the Missions in 1833, successive Mexican Governors distributed the large land tracts formerly held by the Franciscan Order to various families in order to reward service or build alliances. These land grants to local notable families mark the beginning of the "Rancho Period" in California and Santa Barbara history. Fernando Tico was one of the first settlers who received land grants for the local area. Fernando led the Native Americans against the Argentinian pirates in the 1800s. The population remained sparse, with enormous cattle operations run by wealthy families. It was during this period that
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast''. ...
first visited Santa Barbara and wrote about the
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
and people of Santa Barbara in his book ''
Two Years Before the Mast
''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...
''.
Santa Barbara fell bloodlessly to a battalion of
American soldiers
''American Soldiers'' is a 2005 war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20 ...
under
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
on December 27, 1846, during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, and after the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
in 1848 it became part of the expanding United States.
Post-Conquest era
Change came quickly in Santa Barbara following the American
Conquest of California
The Conquest of California, also known as the Conquest of Alta California or the California Campaign, was an important military campaign of the Mexican–American War carried out by the United States in Alta California (modern-day California), t ...
. The population doubled between 1850 and 1860. In 1851, land surveyor Salisbury Haley designed the street grid, famously botching the block measurements, misaligning the streets, thereby creating doglegs at certain intersections. Wood construction replaced adobe as American settlers moved in; during the Gold Rush years and following, the town became a haven for bandits and gamblers, and a dangerous and lawless place. Charismatic gambler and
highwayman
A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footp ...
Jack Powers
Jack Powers (1827 – October 26, 1860), whose real name was John A. Power, was an Irish-born American outlaw who emigrated to New York as a child and later served as a volunteer soldier in the Mexican–American War in the garrison of Santa Bar ...
had virtual control of the town in the early 1850s, until driven out by a posse organized in San Luis Obispo. English gradually supplanted Spanish as the language of daily life, becoming the language of official record in 1870. The first newspaper, the ''Santa Barbara Gazette'', was founded in 1855.
While the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
had little effect on Santa Barbara, the disastrous drought of 1863 ended the Rancho Period, as most of the cattle died and ranchos were broken up and sold. Mortimer Cook, a wealthy entrepreneur, arrived in 1871 and opened the city's first bank. Cook later served two terms as mayor. Cook founded the first National Gold Bank of Santa Barbara in 1873. The building of
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francis ...
in 1872 enhanced Santa Barbara's commercial and tourist accessibility; previously goods and visitors had to transfer from
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
s to smaller craft to row ashore. During the 1870s, writer
Charles Nordhoff
Charles Bernard Nordhoff (February 1, 1887 – April 10, 1947) was an American novelist and traveler, born in England. Nordhoff is perhaps best known for ''The Bounty Trilogy'', three historical novels he wrote with James Norman Hall: ''Mutiny o ...
promoted the town as a health resort and destination for well-to-do travelers from other parts of the U.S.; many of them came, and many stayed. The luxurious Arlington Hotel dated from this period. In 1887 the railroad finally went through to Los Angeles, and in 1901 to San Francisco: Santa Barbara was now easily accessible by land and by sea, and subsequent development was brisk. Santa Barbara had a system of street railways that operated from 1875 through 1929. Begun as a single mule-drawn line from the waterfront pier to the Arlington Hotel, over the decades it was incrementally expanded, later electrified, and operated until its closure in June 1929.
Peter J. Barber, an architect, designed many Late Victorian style residences, and served twice as mayor, in 1880 and again in 1890. A year after Barber's term as mayor, President Benjamin Harrison became the first of five presidents to visit Santa Barbara.
Early 20th century to World War II
Just before the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered at the
Summerland Oil Field
The Summerland Oil Field (and Summerland Offshore Oil Field) is an inactive oil field in Santa Barbara County, California, about four miles (6 km) east of the city of Santa Barbara, within and next to the unincorporated community of Summerla ...
, and the region along the beach east of Santa Barbara sprouted numerous oil derricks and piers for drilling offshore. This was the first offshore oil development in the world; oil drilling offshore would become a contentious practice in the Santa Barbara area, which continues to the present day.
Santa Barbara housed the world's largest movie studio during the era of silent film. Flying A Studios, a division of the
American Film Manufacturing Company
The American Film Manufacturing Company, also known as Flying “A” Studios,
was an American motion picture production company. In 1915, the formal name was changed to the American Film Company.
History
The American Film Manufacturing Comp ...
, operated on two city blocks centered at State and Mission between 1910 and 1922, with the industry shutting down locally and moving to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
once it outgrew the area, needing the resources of a larger city. Flying A and the other smaller local studios produced approximately 1,200 films during their tenure in Santa Barbara, of which approximately 100 survive.
During this period, the Loughead Aircraft Company was established on lower State Street, and regularly tested
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
s off of East Beach. This was the genesis of what would later become Lockheed.
The magnitude 6.3 earthquake of June 29, 1925, the first destructive earthquake in California since the 1906 San Francisco quake, destroyed much of downtown Santa Barbara and killed 13 people. The earthquake caused infrastructure to collapse including the Sheffield Dam. The low death toll is attributed to the early hour (6:44 a.m., before most people were out on the streets, vulnerable to falling masonry). While this quake, like the one in 1812, was centered in the Santa Barbara Channel, it caused no tsunami. It came at an opportune time for rebuilding, since a movement for architectural reform and unification around a Spanish Colonial style was already underway. Under the leadership of
Pearl Chase Pearl Chase was a civic leader in Santa Barbara, California. She is best known for her significant impact on the historic preservation and conservation of that city.
Early life
Chase was born in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to Santa Barbara ...
, many of the city's famous buildings rose as part of the rebuilding process, including the
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a Spanish Colonial Revival style building designed by William Mooser IIIMarine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara
Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara (MCAS Santa Barbara) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located in Goleta, California north of Los Angeles during World War II. It was also known as the Goleta Air Station in the 1940s. ...
, and
Naval Reserve Center Santa Barbara
The Naval Reserve Center building in Santa Barbara, California is the location of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum along with other uses.
History
In 1897, a small group of Santa Barbara, California citizens organized the Sixth Division of the ...
at the harbor. Up the coast, west of the city, was the Army's Camp Cooke (the present-day
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from th ...
). In the city,
Hoff General Hospital treated servicemen wounded in the Pacific Theatre. On February 23, 1942, not long after the outbreak of war in the Pacific, the Japanese submarine ''
I-17 I17 may also refer to:
* Interstate 17, an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Arizona, United States
* Japanese submarine ''I-17'', a B1 type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy
* Polikarpov I-17, a Soviet single ...
Ellwood Oil Field
Ellwood Oil Field (also spelled "Elwood") and South Ellwood Offshore Oil Field are a pair of adjacent, partially active oil fields adjoining the city of Goleta, California, about west of Santa Barbara, largely in the Santa Barbara Channel. A r ...
, about west of Santa Barbara, in the first shelling attack by an enemy power on the continental U.S. since the bombardment of Orleans in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Although the shelling was inaccurate and only caused about $500 damage to a catwalk, panic was immediate. Many Santa Barbara residents fled, and land values plummeted to historic lows.
After World War II
After the war many of the servicemen who had seen Santa Barbara returned to stay. The population surged by 10,000 people between the end of the war and 1950. This burst of growth had dramatic consequences for the local economy and infrastructure.
Highway 101
Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...
was built through town during this period, and newly built
Lake Cachuma
Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, ...
began supplying water via a tunnel dug through the mountains between 1950 and 1956.
Local relations with the oil industry gradually soured through the period. Production at Summerland had ended, Elwood was winding down, and to find new fields oil companies carried out seismic exploration of the Channel using explosives, a controversial practice that local fishermen claimed harmed their catch. The culminating disaster, and one of the formative events in the modern environmental movement, was the blowout at Union Oil's Platform A on the Dos Cuadras Field, about eight miles (13 km) southeast of Santa Barbara in the Santa Barbara Channel, on January 28, 1969. Approximately of oil surged out of a huge undersea break, fouling hundreds of square miles of ocean and all the coastline from Ventura to Goleta, as well north facing beaches on the Channel Islands. Two legislative consequences of the spill in the next year were the passages of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...
(NEPA); locally, outraged citizens formed GOO (Get Oil Out).Baker, pp. 88–89
Santa Barbara's business community strove to attract development until the surge in the anti-growth movement in the 1970s. Many "clean" industries, especially aerospace firms such as Raytheon and Delco Electronics, moved to town in the 1950s and 1960s, bringing employees from other parts of the U.S. UCSB itself became a major employer. In 1975, the city passed an ordinance restricting growth to a maximum of 85,000 residents, through zoning. Growth in the adjacent Goleta Valley could be shut down by denying water meters to developers seeking permits. As a result of these changes, growth slowed down, but prices rose sharply.
When voters approved connection to State water supplies in 1991, parts of the city, especially outlying areas, resumed growth, but more slowly than during the boom period of the 1950s and 1960s. While the slower growth preserved the quality of life for most residents and prevented the
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
notorious in the
Los Angeles basin
The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Tr ...
, housing in the Santa Barbara area was in short supply, and prices soared: in 2006, only six percent of residents could afford a median-value house. As a result, many people who work in Santa Barbara commute from adjacent, more affordable areas, such as Santa Maria,
Lompoc
Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021.
Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...
, and Ventura. The resultant traffic on incoming arteries, in particular the stretch of Highway 101 between Ventura and Santa Barbara, is another problem being addressed by long-range planners.
Notable wildfires
Since the middle of the twentieth century, several destructive fires have affected Santa Barbara: the 1964 Coyote Fire, which burned of backcountry along with 106 homes; the smaller, but quickly moving, Sycamore Fire in 1977, which burned 200 homes; the disastrous 1990
Painted Cave Fire
The Painted Cave Fire was a devastating wildfire in June, 1990 that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains and the city of Santa Barbara, within Santa Barbara County, California.
The fire, which began near Painted Cave, was intentionally set near ...
, which incinerated over 500 homes in only several hours, during an intense
Sundowner wind A sundowner is a northerly offshore wind in California along the southern Pacific slope of Santa Ynez Mountains, in communities along the Gaviota Coast and Santa Barbara towards but not including Ventura County.
Formation
It occurs when a region ...
event; the November 2008 Tea Fire, which destroyed 210 homes in the foothills of Santa Barbara and Montecito; and the 2009
Jesusita Fire
The Jesusita Fire was a wildfire that started on May 5, 2009 in the hills of Santa Barbara, California in the western United States. By the time the fire was contained on May 18 it had burned , destroyed 80 homes and damaged 15 more before being ...
that burned and destroyed 160 homes above the San Roque region of Santa Barbara.
The
Thomas Fire
The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately before being fully contained on January 12 ...
burned from its origins in
Santa Paula
Santa Paula (Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa Pau ...
to the east of Santa Barbara and consumed in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, most of which consisted of rural land and wilderness areas. The fire started December 4, 2017, and was 100% contained by January 12, 2018. 1,050 structures were lost in the Thomas Fire, mostly east of Santa Barbara in Ventura County. The Thomas Fire has been the largest Santa Barbara County fire ever recorded to date.
Geography
Santa Barbara is located about west-northwest of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, along the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
coast. This stretch of coast along southern
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
is sometimes referred to as "The American Riviera", presumably because its geography and climate are similar to that of areas along the northern
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
coast (especially in southern France) known as the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
. The
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges.
The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...
, an east–west trending range, rise dramatically behind the city, with several peaks exceeding . Covered with
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
, oaks and
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...
s, they make a scenic backdrop to the town. Sometimes, perhaps once every three years, snow falls on the mountains, but it rarely stays for more than a few days. Nearer to town, directly east and adjacent to
Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December ...
, is an east–west ridge known locally as "the Riviera," traversed by a road called "Alameda Padre Serra" (shortened APS, which translates to "Father Serra's pathway").
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (53.61%) is water. The high official figures for water is due to the extension of the city limit into the ocean, including a strip of city reaching out into the sea and inland again to keep the Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) within the city boundary.
Climate
Santa Barbara experiences a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: Csb) characteristic of coastal California. Santa Barbara's weather was ranked number 1 in the United States in 2018 by U.S. News & World Report. Because the city lies along the ocean and parallel to the predominant westerly winds, sideshore and light onshore breezes moderate temperatures resulting in warmer winters and cooler summers compared with places farther inland.
In the winter, storms reach California, some of which bring heavy rainfall but the rainshadow effect of the coastal mountains can at times moderate or enhance the rainfall depending on local storm wind flows. Local rainfall totals can be enhanced by
orographic lift
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...
when storms are accompanied by southerly flow pushing moist air over the Santa Ynez mountains, producing greater rainfall than in other coastal areas.
Diurnal temperature variation
In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day.
Temperature lag
Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...
reaches a maximum in winter due to lower humidity and the absence of summer fog. On average, only 1.7 nights have freezing lows.
Summers in Santa Barbara are mostly rainless due to the presence of a high-pressure area over the eastern Pacific, but summer showers can happen due to tropical hurricane/Monsoonal flows that rarely reach the region; thunderstorms can also occur during the
North American Monsoon
The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the southwestern Uni ...
. In the fall, afternoon or evening downslope winds, locally called " Sundowners", can raise temperatures into the high 90s °F (high 30s °C) and drop humidities into the single digits, increasing the chance due to downed power lines, etc., and severity of wildfires in the foothills north of the city.
Annual rainfall totals are highly variable and in exceptional years like 1940–1941 and 1997–1998 over of rain have fallen in a year, but in dry seasons less than is not unheard of. Snow sometimes covers higher elevations of the Santa Ynez Mountains but is extremely rare in the city itself. The most recent accumulating snow to fall near sea level was in January 1949, when approximately fell in the city.
Geology and soils
The city of Santa Barbara is situated on a coastal plain between the
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges.
The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...
and the sea. This coastal plain consists of a complex array of
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
and
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
and
colluvial
Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combinati ...
deposits,
marine terrace
A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,P ...
s, debris flows, and
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
deposits. Soils are mostly well drained brown fine
sandy loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
of the Milpitas series. Rapid geologic uplift is characteristic of the entire region, as evidenced by the coastal bluffs and narrow beaches that are present along most of the coastline.
Downtown Santa Barbara occupies a floodplain between two major geologic faults, the Mission Ridge Fault Zone to the north and the Mesa Fault to the south. The Mission Ridge Fault Zone runs along the range of hills known locally as the "Riviera", and the Mesa Fault defines the northern boundary of the band of hills called the "Mesa". These two faults converge near the Five Points Shopping Center at Los Positas and State Streets. Neither is well-exposed, with their locations being inferred from topography, springs, seeps, and well logs. The Mesa Fault continues southeast offshore into the Santa Barbara Channel; the portion of the fault offshore is believed to have been responsible for the destructive earthquake of 1925. The Mission Ridge Fault trends east–west, being named the More Ranch Fault west of Santa Barbara, and forms the northern boundary of the uplands which include
Isla Vista
Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. As of 2020 census, the community had a population of 15,500. The majority of residents are college students at t ...
, More Mesa, and the
Hope Ranch
Hope Ranch is an unincorporated coastal suburb of Santa Barbara, California, located in Santa Barbara County. It is bounded on the east by Santa Barbara, on the north and west by the unincorporated area of Noleta, and on the south by the Pacifi ...
Hills.
Three major sedimentary bedrock units underlie the coastal plain: the
Monterey Formation
The Monterey Formation is an extensive Miocene oil-rich geological sedimentary formation in California, with outcrops of the formation in parts of the California Coast Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and on some of California's off-shore islands ...
, the
Sisquoc Formation
The Sisquoc Formation is a sedimentary geologic unit widespread in Southern California, both on the coast and in mountains near the coast. Overlying the Monterey Formation, it is of upper Miocene and lower Pliocene age (from about 4 to 6 mil ...
, and the Santa Barbara Formation. The Santa Barbara Formation is one of the main units in the
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
underlying the city. Its coarse-grained freshwater-bearing portion, much of which is below sea level, is protected from seawater intrusion by the More Ranch Fault, which has shielded it by uplifting less-permeable rocks between it and the sea. The majority of water wells in the Santa Barbara-Goleta area pull from this geologic unit.
The Santa Ynez Mountains to the north of the city consist of multiple layers of sandstone and conglomerate units dating from the Jurassic Age to the present, uplifted rapidly since the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58
Architecture
The first Monterey-style adobe in California was built on State Street of Santa Barbara by the wealthy merchant Alpheus Thompson. The dominant architectural themes of Santa Barbara are the
Mediterranean Revival
Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...
,
Spanish Colonial Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
and the related Mission Revival style, encouraged through design guidelines adopted by city leaders after the 1925 earthquake destroyed much of the downtown commercial district. Residential architectural styles in Santa Barbara reflect the era of their construction. Many late-1800s Victorian homes remain downtown and in the "Upper East" neighborhood. California bungalows are common, built in the early decades of the 20th century. Spanish Colonial Revival-style homes built after 1925 are common all over the city, especially in newer upscale residential areas like Montecito and
Hope Ranch
Hope Ranch is an unincorporated coastal suburb of Santa Barbara, California, located in Santa Barbara County. It is bounded on the east by Santa Barbara, on the north and west by the unincorporated area of Noleta, and on the south by the Pacifi ...
. Notable modernist and contemporary homes can be found as well.
Notable architects who practiced in Santa Barbara include:
* Peter J. Barber (1830–1905)
*
James Osborne Craig
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
Reginald Davis Johnson
Reginald Davis Johnson (1882 - 1952) was an American architect. His practice, based in Pasadena, California, focused on the Los Angeles area and southern California in general, with a mixture of residential and commercial work. Johnson's later wo ...
John Frederic Murphy
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
Edwards and Plunkett
Edwards and Plunkett was an American architectural firm active between 1925 and 1940 in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded by William Albert Edwards (1888–1976) and James Joseph Plunkett (1900–1946), who were among the most famous prac ...
(active 1925 to 1940)
*
Lutah Maria Riggs
Lutah Maria Riggs (October 31, 1896 – March 8, 1984) was an American architect who worked for several decades in Santa Barbara, California. Born in Toledo, Ohio, she moved with her mother to Santa Barbara after high school, where she returned ...
(1896–1984)
*
Winsor Soule Winsor may refer to:
Places
* Winsor, Hampshire, England
* Winsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
* Winsor Township (disambiguation), United States
People
* Winsor (surname)
* Winsor Harmon (born 1963), American actor best known for his rol ...
(1883–1954)
*
Francis Townsend Underhill
Francis Townsend Underhill (25 February 1863 – 1929) was a politician from the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and an amateur architect in California.
Biography
Born in Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay, New York, he was a ...
Carleton Winslow
Carleton Monroe Winslow (December 27, 1876 – 1946), also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th century.
Biography
Win ...
Santa Barbara has a range of neighborhoods with distinctive histories, architecture, and culture. While considerable consensus exists as to the identification of neighborhood names and boundaries, variations exist between observers. For example, real estate agents may use different names than those used by public utilities or municipal service providers, such as police, fire, or water services. The following is a list of neighborhoods with descriptions and comments on each.
* The Mesa stretches from Santa Barbara City College on the east to Arroyo Burro County Beach (or "Hendry's/The Pit" to locals) on the west. "The Mesa" embodies a beach vibe. The neighborhood has beach access to Mesa Lane Beach, as well as Thousand Steps Beach. This is considered to be a desirable neighborhood due to its proximity to the ocean as well as the college. Residential development began here in the 1920s but was interrupted by the discovery of the
Mesa Oil Field
The Mesa Oil Field is an abandoned oil field entirely within the city limits of Santa Barbara, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1929, it was quickly developed and quickly declined, as it proved to be but a relatively small accumulat ...
. The field was quickly exhausted, and after the Second World War building of houses resumed, although the last oil tanks and sumps did not disappear until the early 1970s.
* Bel Air and Alta Mesa comprise most of the coastal highlands of Santa Barbara, north (landward) of the Mesa. The area is almost entirely residential except for the Honda Valley natural area and
Elings Park
Elings Park (formerly Las Positas Friendship Park) is a non-profit park located in Santa Barbara, California east of Las Positas Road and south of U.S. Highway 101. It is the largest privately funded park in America. The park consists of sports f ...
, the largest privately funded park in the United States. Several homes on the northeast slopes and crests have views of downtown Santa Barbara, the Riviera, the
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges.
The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...
, and the coast to Ventura and beyond, while many on the southern side have views of the
Santa Barbara Channel
The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Count ...
and
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park consists of five of the eight Channel Islands of California, Channel Islands off the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populate ...
. Due to its position along Santa Barbara County's east–west-trending southern coastline, fall and winter sunrises occur above the ocean here, a rarity on the Pacific coast of the United States.
* Mission Canyon contains the wooded hilly area beginning at the Old Mission and extending along Foothill Road, north and east into Mission Canyon Road and Las Canoas Road. A popular spot as an entry-point for weekend foothill hiking, it is one of the most rustically beautiful, yet fire-prone areas of Santa Barbara due to heavy natural vegetation.
* The Riviera encompasses an ocean-facing hillside and back hillside extending for approximately two miles, with the north side extending from Foothill Road to Sycamore Canyon Road, and the south side from the Santa Barbara Mission to North Salinas Street. The ribbon-like Alameda Padre Serra serves as the principal entry point from the Mission and the City of Santa Barbara. Since the past century, it has been known as "the Riviera" due to its resemblance to the Mediterranean coastal towns of France and Italy. The neighborhood has winding streets with intricate stonework terracing built by early 20th-century Italian immigrants. Most of the topography of the Riviera is relatively steep, making it particularly noteworthy for homes with outstanding views of the City of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean.
* The Westside ("west of State Street") lies predominantly in the lowlands between State Street and the Mesa, including Highway 101, and also reaches down to Cliff Drive, incorporating
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus.
History
Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...
.
* The Eastside ("east of State Street") is generally the area east of State to the base of the Riviera, and includes
Santa Barbara Junior High School
, logo = Santa Barbara School Districts Logo.jpg
, motto =
, type = Public
, budget = US$19,397,597 (2010)
, us_nces_district_id =
, established = Jun ...
,
Santa Barbara High School
Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Dis ...
, and the
Santa Barbara Bowl
The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat amphitheater, located in Santa Barbara, California. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclu ...
.
* The Waterfront comprises roughly commercial and tourist-oriented business structures along Cabrillo Boulevard including
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francis ...
, the Santa Barbara Harbor and the breakwater, and extending east toward the Bird Refuge and west along Shoreline Drive above the SBCC campus West.
* Upper State Street is a residential and commercial district that includes numerous professional offices, and much of the medical infrastructure of the city. Upper State is generally defined by the location of the Granada Theatre and points Northwest. Upper State includes the Santa Barbara Mission and the late Pearl Chase's influence on home design is ever-present in this area.
* San Roque is located northwest of the downtown area and north of Samarkand. This area is said to be a constant 5 degrees warmer than the coastal areas, due to its greater distance from the ocean than other Santa Barbara neighborhoods, and being separated from the sea by a low range of hills to the south of the 101 freeway, occupied by the Mesa and
Hope Ranch
Hope Ranch is an unincorporated coastal suburb of Santa Barbara, California, located in Santa Barbara County. It is bounded on the east by Santa Barbara, on the north and west by the unincorporated area of Noleta, and on the south by the Pacifi ...
. San Roque area weather is considered by locals as the most temperate of all Santa Barbara Cities areas.
* Samarkand currently has approximately 630 homes on with a population of about 2,000 people. The name Samarkand comes from an Old Persian word meaning "the land of heart's desire." It was first applied to a deluxe Persian-style hotel that was converted from a boys' school in 1920. Samarkand later became identified as its own neighborhood located between Las Positas, State Street, De La Vina, Oak Park, and the Freeway. Earle Ovington built the first home here in 1920 at 3030 Samarkand Drive. As a pilot, Ovington established the Casa Loma Air Field with a runway that was used by legendary pilots Lindbergh and Earhart.
Demographics
2010
The
2020 United States Census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
reported that Santa Barbara had a population of 88,665.
According to the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
the
racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of Santa Barbara was 66,411 (75.1%) White; 1,420 (1.6%) African American; 892 (1.0%) Native American; 3,062 (3.5%); Asian (1.0% Chinese, 0.6% Filipino, 0.5% Japanese, 0.4% Korean, 0.4% Indian, 0.2% Vietnamese, 0.4% other); 116 (0.1%) Pacific Islander; 13,032 (14.7%) from other races; 3,477 (3.9%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 33,591 persons (38.0%). Non-Hispanic Whites were 45,852 persons (52.2%)
The Census reported that 86,783 people (98.2% of the population) lived in households, 1,172 (1.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 455 (0.5%) were institutionalized.
Of the 35,449 households, 8,768 (24.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,240 (37.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,454 (9.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 1,539 (4.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,420 (6.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 339 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships; 11,937 households (33.7%) were made up of individuals, and 4,340 (12.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45. There were 18,233
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
(51.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.13.
The population was spread out, with 16,468 people (18.6%) under the age of 18, 10,823 people (12.2%) aged 18 to 24, 26,241 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 22,305 people (25.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 12,573 people (14.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.7 males.
There were 37,820 housing units at an average density of , of which 13,784 (38.9%) were owner-occupied, and 21,665 (61.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.1%; 34,056 people (38.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 52,727 people (59.6%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, 92,325 people*, 35,605 households, and 18,941 families resided in the city. The population density was . There were 37,076 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 74.0% White, 1.8% African American, 1.1% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 16.4% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. People of Hispanic or Latino background, of any race, were 35.0% of the population.
Of the 35,605 households, 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.8% were not families. About 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the city, the population was distributed as 19.8% under the age of 18, 13.8% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.
The median
income
Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...
for a household in the city was $47,498, and for a family was $57,880. Males had a median income of $37,116 versus $31,911 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $26,466. About 7.7% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 16.8% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over. If one compares the
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
to the actual cost of living, the number of people living below the poverty line is considerably higher.
Economy
Aerospace and defense companies such as
Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American aerospace, defense, and sporting goods company with its headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The company operated in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and other countries. ATK's ...
FLIR Systems
Teledyne FLIR LLC (an acronym for "forward-looking infrared"), a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, specializes in the design and production of thermal imaging cameras and sensors. Its main customers are governments and in 2020, approximately 3 ...
, and
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
have major operations in the area. As a tourist destination, the hospitality industry has a significant presence in the regional economy. Among notable business ventures and innovations,
Motel 6
Motel 6 is a privately owned hospitality company with a chain of budget motels in the United States and Canada. Motel 6 also operates Studio 6, a chain of extended-stay hotels. The hotel brand is owned by The Blackstone Group's real estate busi ...
was started in Santa Barbara in 1962. The
Egg McMuffin
McMuffin is a family of breakfast sandwiches sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. The Egg McMuffin is the signature sandwich, which was invented in 1972 by Herb Peterson to resemble eggs Benedict, a traditional Am ...
was invented by
Herb Peterson
Herbert Ralph Peterson (January 5, 1919 – March 25, 2008) was an American fast food advertising executive and food scientist most known for being the inventor of the McDonald's Egg McMuffin in 1972. The breakfast business that he pionee ...
at the upper State Street
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
.
The Habit Burger Grill
The Habit Burger Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. Its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the p ...
restaurant chain began in Old Town
Goleta
Goleta or La Goleta may refer to:
* ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus
* Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County
* La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...
.
Kinko's
FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. (doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shippin ...
(now owned by
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
and known as
FedEx Office
FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. (doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shippin ...
) was founded by Paul Orfalea Isla Vista, near
UC Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...
, in 1970.
, southern Santa Barbara County employed more than half the county's total workers. The County's largest employers are:
Other major employers include Mission Linen Supply, Jordano's, Marborg Industries, the
Santa Barbara Biltmore
The Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is a luxury resort hotel located in Santa Barbara, California known for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and gardens. It opened in 1927 as the Santa Barbara Biltmore, part of the Bowman ...
and
San Ysidro Ranch
The San Ysidro Ranch is a luxury resort located in the Montecito foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Ynez Mountains. Originally deeded with the Presidio by Charles III of Spain, the San Ysidro Ranch exchanged hands, changing from a Mis ...
,
Westmont College
Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937.
History
Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...
,
Mentor
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
,
CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction) is an online advertising company owned by Publicis Groupe operating in the affiliate marketing industry, which operates worldwide. The corporate headquarters is in Santa Barbara, California, and there ar ...
, Beachfront
Hilton Resort
Hilton or Hylton may refer to:
Companies
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name
** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...
, Belmond El Encanto and QAD.
Retail centers include the traditional downtown area along lower State Street, where the Paseo Nuevo shopping center is located, and La Cumbre Plaza on upper State Street.
Arts and culture
Performing arts
Santa Barbara contains numerous performing art venues, including the 2,000 seat
Arlington Theatre
The Arlington Theatre is the largest movie theater and principal performing arts venue in Santa Barbara, California, United States. In addition to regular screenings and artists, it is home to many events associated with the annual Santa Ba ...
, which is the largest indoor performance venue in Santa Barbara and site of the annual
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986.
The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...
. Other major venues include the
Lobero Theatre
The Lobero Theatre is an historic building in Santa Barbara, California. The theater was originally built as an opera house, in a refurbished adobe school building, by Italian immigrant José Lobero in 1873. Located downtown at the corner of Ana ...
, a historic building and favorite venue for small concerts; the Granada Theater, the tallest building downtown, originally built by contractor C.B. Urton in 1924, but with the theatre remodeled and reopened in March 2008; and the
Santa Barbara Bowl
The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat amphitheater, located in Santa Barbara, California. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclu ...
, a 4,562 seat outdoor amphitheater in a canyon at the base of the Riviera.
The city is considered a haven for
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
lovers with a
symphony orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
, a professiona opera company and many non-profit classical music groups (such as CAMA). The
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California.
Overview
The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...
, located in Montecito, hosts an annual music festival in the summer, drawing renowned students and professionals.
Tourist attractions
Santa Barbara is a year-round tourist destination renowned for its fair weather, downtown beaches, and Spanish architecture. Tourism brings more than one billion dollars per year into the local economy, including $80 million in tax revenue.
Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December ...
, "The Queen of the Missions," is located on a rise about two miles (3 km) inland from the harbor, and is an active
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
mission and place of worship, sightseeing stop, and
national historic landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. Annually over the Memorial Day weekend, there is a chalk-art festival known as ''I Madonnari'', with ephemeral works of art created on the asphalt in front of the mission, and food stalls set up and music.
The
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a Spanish Colonial Revival style building designed by William Mooser IIIPresidio of Santa Barbara
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
, a Spanish military installation and chapel built in 1782, was central to the town's early development and colonial roots. In 1855, the Presidio Chapel, being in decay, grew into the Apostolic College of Our Lady of Sorrows, now Our Lady of Sorrows Church.
The annual Fiesta (originally called "Old Spanish Days") is celebrated every year in August. The Fiesta is hosted by the
Native Daughters of the Golden West
Native Daughters of the Golden West is an American non-profit organization for women born in California. The organization focuses on the care and preservation of California history. It is the sister organization to the Native Sons of the Golden We ...
and the
Native Sons of the Golden West
The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic p ...
in a joint committee called the Fiesta Board. Fiesta was originally started as a tourist attraction, like the Rose Bowl, to draw business into the town in the 1920s. Flower Girls and Las Señoritas march and participate in both Fiesta Pequeña (the kickoff of Fiesta) and the various parades. Flower Girls is for girls under 13. They throw roses and other flowers into the crowds. Las Señoritas are their older escorts. Many Señoritas join the Native Daughters at the age of 16.
The annual Santa Barbara French Festival takes place on
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...
weekend in July and is the largest French Festival in the western United States.
New Noise Music Conference and Festival, established in 2009, is a four-day event with the main party in the Funk Zone, a small art and wine tasting section of the city near the beach, and other small bands to local venues around the city. New Noise brings in over 75 bands and 50 speakers to the festival each year.
For over 40 years, the Santa Barbara Arts and Crafts Show has been held on Cabrillo Boulevard, east of
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francis ...
and along the beach, attracting thousands of people to see artwork made by artists and crafts people that live in Santa Barbara county. By the rules of the show, all the works displayed must have been made by the artists and craftspeople themselves, who sell their own goods. The show started in the early 1960s, and now has over 200 booths on Sundays. The show is also held on some Saturdays that are national holidays, but not during inclement weather.
The
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986.
The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...
, another local non-profit, draws over 50,000 attendees during what is usually Santa Barbara's slow season in late January. SBIFF hosts a wide variety of celebrities, premieres, panels and movies from around the world and runs for 10 days.
The annual Summer Solstice Parade draws up to 100,000 people. It is a colorful themed parade put on by local residents, and follows a route along State Street for approximately one mile, ending at
Alameda Park
Alameda Park located in Santa Barbara, California, in the U.S., adjoining Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, is the location for many citywide celebrations, including Summer Solstice. It is also one of the city's oldest parks.
Occupying two ...
. Its main rule is that no written messages or banners with words are allowed. Floats and costumes vary from the whimsical to the outrageous; parties and street events take place throughout the weekend of the parade, the first weekend after the solstice.
Surfing is a part of Santa Barbara culture. The late Bruce Brown's cult classic documentary, ''
The Endless Summer
''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterranea ...
'', put surfing on the map, and he was often seen around town prior to his passing in December 2017. Surfing legend Pat Curren and his son, three time world champion
Tom Curren
Tom Curren is an American surfer.
Professional career
By the time Curren joined the ASP World Tour in 1983, he was competing with professionals such as Rabbit Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson, and Cheyne Horan.
He was world champion in 1985, 1986 ...
, as well as ten time world champion
Kelly Slater
Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. Slater is also ...
, and other popular surfers such as Shaun Tompson, Jack Johnson and Chris Brown call Santa Barbara home. The Channel Islands block summer surf swells that come from the tropics or further south, the southern hemisphere. For these reasons Santa Barbara is viewed as a winter surf location.
Other tourist-centered attractions include:
*
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francis ...
– Adjacent to Santa Barbara Harbor, features shops, several restaurants, and the newly rebuilt
Ty Warner Sea Center
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center, briefly known as the Ty Warner Sea Center, is a museum owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and is located on Santa Barbara's Stearns Wharf. The Sea Center focuse ...
and Lower State Street.
*
Rafael Gonzalez House
The Rafael Gonzalez House is an historic house in the historic center of the city of Santa Barbara, California. Built in 1825, it is one of a small number of surviving adobe houses from the Mexican period of California history. It was designate ...
–
Adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
residence of the alcalde of Santa Barbara in the 1820s, and a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
*
Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree
Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree located in Santa Barbara, California is believed to be the largest ''Ficus macrophylla'' in the United States.Days, M. L. (1977). ''Histories of individual parks Santa Barbara California''. Santa Barbara, CA: ...
– a giant
Moreton Bay Fig
''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...
, tall, which has one of the largest total shaded areas of any tree in North America
* Burton Mound – on Mason Street at Burton Circle, this mound is thought to be the
Chumash Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California
See also
* Chumash traditional ...
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ( pt, João Rodrigues Cabrilho; c. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the firs ...
in 1542, and again by Fr. Crespí and Portolá in 1769. (
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
No. 306)
* De La Guerra Plaza (Casa de la Guerra) – Site of the first City Hall, and still the center of the city's administration. (California Historical Landmark No. 307) Also the location of the
Santa Barbara News-Press
The ''Santa Barbara News-Press'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California.
History
The oldest predecessor (the weekly Santa Barbara ''Post'') of the ''News-Press'' started publishing on May 30, 1868.
The Santa Barbara ''Pos ...
Santa Barbara Historical Museum
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located in Santa Barbara, California, U.S. It features relics from Chumash, Spanish, Mexican, Yankee, and Chinese culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, in ...
on Santa Barbara Street. (California Historical Landmark No. 308)
*
Hastings Adobe
The Hastings Adobe near Collinsville, California is a structure that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is currently on private property and is inaccessible to the public.
Hastings was a lawyer and writer of an " ...
– Built in 1854, partially from material recovered from the wreck of the ''
S.S. Winfield Scott
SS ''Winfield Scott'' was a sidewheel steamer that transported passengers and cargo between San Francisco, California and Panama in the early 1850s, during the California Gold Rush. After entering a heavy fog off the coast of Southern Califor ...
''. (California Historical Landmark No. 559)
* Hill-Carrillo Adobe – Built in 1825 by Daniel A. Hill for his wife Rafaela L. Ortega y Olivera; currently at 11 E. Carrillo Street.
*
Cold Spring Tavern
Cold Spring Tavern was established as a stagecoach stop in 1865. Originally known as the "Cold Spring Relay Station", it was a horse changeover and meals break station. The tavern is located 20 minutes north of Santa Barbara, California, in Cold S ...
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a sanctuary off the Pacific coast of Southern California. The National Marine Sanctuary program is under the administration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Established ...
*
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park consists of five of the eight Channel Islands of California, Channel Islands off the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Although the islands are close to the shore of the densely populate ...
*
Rancho del Cielo
Rancho del Cielo, also known in its English translation as ''Sky's Ranch'' or ''Heaven's Ranch'', is a / ranch located atop the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California. It served as a vacation home for Ronald Reagan an ...
Museums
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA), located on State Street, features nationally recognized collections and special exhibitions of international importance. Highlights of the Museum's permanent collection include antiquities; 19th-century French, British, and American art; 20th-century and contemporary European, North American, and Latin American art; Asian art; photography; and works on paper. It has an education program that serves local and surrounding communities through extensive on-site programming and curriculum resources. Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB), located on the top floor of Paseo Nuevo shopping mall, is a non-profit, non-collecting museum dedicated to the exhibition, education, and cultivation of the arts of our time. It offers free admission to its exhibitions and public programming.
Other art venues include the University Art Museum on the University of California at Santa Barbara Campus, various private galleries, and a wide variety of art and photography shows. The
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Santa Barbara, California.
It reconnects more than 150,000 people each year (including their 5,700 members) to nature indoors and outdoors. Nestled in nature, the museum ...
is located immediately behind the
Santa Barbara Mission
Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for t ...
in a complex of Mission-style buildings set in a park-like campus. The Museum offers indoor and outdoor exhibits and a state-of-the-art planetarium.
The
Santa Barbara Historical Museum
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located in Santa Barbara, California, U.S. It features relics from Chumash, Spanish, Mexican, Yankee, and Chinese culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, in ...
is located on De La Guerra Street. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is located at 113 Harbor Way (the former
Naval Reserve Center Santa Barbara
The Naval Reserve Center building in Santa Barbara, California is the location of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum along with other uses.
History
In 1897, a small group of Santa Barbara, California citizens organized the Sixth Division of the ...
) on the waterfront. The
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums are a private collection of more than a million manuscripts and documents in the United States, the largest such collection in the world. It was founded in 1983 by California real estate magnates David Kar ...
(free admission) houses a collection of historical documents and manuscripts. Two open air museums here are
Lotusland
Ganna Walska Lotusland, also known as Lotusland, is a non-profit botanical garden located in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, United States. The (15 ha / 37 acres) garden is the historic estate of Madame Ganna Walska. The County of San ...
and
Casa del Herrero
Casa del Herrero (also known as the Steedman Estate) is a historic house museum and botanical garden located in Montecito near Santa Barbara, California. It was designed by George Washington Smith, and is considered one of the finest examples o ...
, exemplifying the American Country Place era in Santa Barbara. Casa Dolores, center for the popular arts of Mexico, is devoted to the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of an extensive variety of objects of the popular arts of Mexico.
Th Reagan Ranch Center is a three-story museum and gallery operated by
Young America's Foundation
Young America's Foundation (YAF) is a conservative youth organization founded in 1969. In 2018, the ''Los Angeles Times'' called YAF "one of the most preeminent, influential and controversial forces in the nation's conservative youth movement. ...
, next to the Amtrak Station on Lower State Street. Its focus is the history of the Rancho del Cielo and the role it played in Ronald Reagan's life.
Sports
Athletics teams wearing the
UC Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...
Gauchos uniform are some of the most popular spectator sports locally. The Gauchos field 20 varsity teams in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
, most of which play in the
Big West Conference
The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...
. Popular teams include the men's soccer team, which averages over 3,800 fans per game, and the men's basketball team, which averages over 2,300 fans per game.
Santa Barbara annually hosts the '' Semana Nautica'' Summer Sports Festival. One of the main events of the festival is the Semana Nautica 15K, the oldest continuously running race on California's central coast. Nite Moves is a popular local 5k race, with an optional ocean swim portion, open to all ages and held on Wednesday evenings from May to the end of August.
Parks and recreation
Santa Barbara has many parks, ranging from small spaces within the urban environment to large, semi-wilderness areas that remain within the city limits. Some notable parks within the city limits are as follows:
*
Alameda Park
Alameda Park located in Santa Barbara, California, in the U.S., adjoining Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, is the location for many citywide celebrations, including Summer Solstice. It is also one of the city's oldest parks.
Occupying two ...
*
Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens
Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden is a park located in Santa Barbara, California. It consists of one entire city block, bounded by Santa Barbara, Micheltorena, Garden and Arrellaga Streets. It is across Santa Barbara Street from the Unitarian So ...
Douglas Family Preserve The Douglas Family Preserve is a public park in Santa Barbara, California. The Preserve is located on the mesa above Arroyo Burro Beach. The property spans of undeveloped ocean-front land, and represents the largest area of coastal open space w ...
Elings Park
Elings Park (formerly Las Positas Friendship Park) is a non-profit park located in Santa Barbara, California east of Las Positas Road and south of U.S. Highway 101. It is the largest privately funded park in America. The park consists of sports f ...
Leadbetter Beach
Leadbetter Beach (also Ledbetter Beach) is a popular beach in Santa Barbara, California, situated below Leadbetter Hill.
It is easily accessible from the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) and the marina, and has light surf which is acceptable ...
Skofield Park
Skofield Park is a natural open space preserve and city park located within Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California. Rattlesnake Canyon Park is located nearby, with both in the "front country" of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
History
T ...
*
West Beach West Beach may refer to:
;Australia
*West Beach, South Australia
West Beach is a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in both the City of Charles Sturt and the City of West Torrens.
History
West Beach was first laid out in ...
Some notable parks and open spaces just outside the city limits include:
*
Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park
Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park is a unit in the state park system of California, preserving a small sandstone cave adorned with rock art attributed to the Chumash people. Adjoining the small community of Painted Cave, the site is l ...
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a , containing over 1,000 species of rare and indigenous plants. It is located in Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, United States.
The purpose of the Garden is to display California native plants in ...
, which contains a diverse collection of plants from around California; it is in
Mission Canyon
Mission Canyon is a census-designated place and an unincorporated suburb of Santa Barbara, California, in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County, United States. The population was 2,381 at the 2010 census, down from 2,610 at the 2 ...
, directly north of the city.
In addition to these parks, there are other hiking trails in Santa Barbara. A 6–7 mile hike from Gaviota State Park traverses the mountains with an ocean view.
Government
In 2015, the city council voted to change from at-large elections to district elections for city council seats.
All of Santa Barbara County falls into
California's 24th congressional district
California's 24th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Salud Carbajal. It contains all of Santa Barbara County, most of San Luis Obispo County, and part of ...
. The district leans towards the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, with a PVI of D+10, making it politically aligned with the rest of California overall. The current Representative is
Salud Carbajal
Salud Ortiz Carbajal (; born November 18, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 24th congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and his district covers Santa Maria, ...
.
Education
Colleges and universities
Santa Barbara and the immediately adjacent area is home to several colleges and universities:
Research university
*
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
Liberal arts colleges
*
Westmont College
Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937.
History
Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...
*
Antioch University
Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its n ...
Community college
*
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus.
History
Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...
Trade schools
*
Santa Barbara Business College
Santa Barbara Business College (SBBCollege) was a private, for-profit college with multiple locations in California. It was founded in 1888 as a co-ed finishing college in Santa Barbara. SBBCollege expanded its program fields and campus location ...
Conservatory
*
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California.
Overview
The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...
Non-research graduate schools
*
Pacifica Graduate Institute
Pacifica Graduate Institute is a private for-profit graduate school with two campuses near Santa Barbara, California. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling, mythological studies, dep ...
*
Fielding Graduate University
Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a private graduate-level university in Santa Barbara, California. It offers postgraduate and doctoral studies mainly in psychology, education, an ...
* Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
*
Southern California Institute of Law
Southern California Institute of Law (SCIL) is a private California registered but unaccredited law school located in Ventura, California. The Law School was established in 1986 and operated as a fixed facility law school, accredited by the State ...
*
Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law
The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law is a private law school in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission and is approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the Stat ...
High schools
Secondary and Primary School students go to the Santa Barbara and Hope district schools. There are also a variety of private schools in the area. The following schools are on the south coast of Santa Barbara County, including the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, and contiguous unincorporated areas.
* The Anacapa School, 7–12
* San Marcos High School, 9–12
*
Dos Pueblos High School
Dos Pueblos High School is a public high school located in Goleta, California, northwest of Santa Barbara. Located adjacent to the foothills on the edge of the Goleta Valley in an area known as El Encanto Heights, it serves a student body of appr ...
, 9–12
* Dos Pueblos Continuation High School, 9–12
* Las Alturas Continuation High School, 9–12
* La Cuesta/Pathfinders Continuation High School, 9–12
* San Marcos Continuation High School, 9–12
*
Santa Barbara High School
Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Dis ...
, 9–12
*
Laguna Blanca School
Laguna Blanca School is a private school located on two different campuses, in Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara and nearby Montecito, California, Montecito, California.
Founded in 1933, Laguna Blanca is an independent, co-educational, co ...
K-12
*
Bishop Garcia Diego High School
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, 9–12
*
Cate School
Cate School is a highly selective, coeducational university-preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12 located in Carpinteria, California, eleven miles from Santa Barbara. The school has a current enrollment of 270 students ...
* Carpinteria Middle School, 6–8 (CUSD)
* Community Day School, 7–8
* Crane Country Day School, K-8
*
Goleta Valley Junior High School
Goleta Valley Junior High School is a junior high school in Goleta, California, just northwest of Santa Barbara, California in the Goleta Valley. With a student body of about 785 students in grades 7th and 8th, Goleta Valley J.H. employs about fi ...
Santa Barbara Junior High School
, logo = Santa Barbara School Districts Logo.jpg
, motto =
, type = Public
, budget = US$19,397,597 (2010)
, us_nces_district_id =
, established = Jun ...
*Providence Santa Barbara (formerly known as Santa Barbara Christian School K-8)
Media
Newspapers
Santa Barbara has two adjudicated, general circulation newspapers:
* The daily ''
Santa Barbara News-Press
The ''Santa Barbara News-Press'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California.
History
The oldest predecessor (the weekly Santa Barbara ''Post'') of the ''News-Press'' started publishing on May 30, 1868.
The Santa Barbara ''Pos ...
'' (sold to local resident Wendy P. McCaw by the
New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. T ...
in 2000), with a circulation of about 25,000,
* The ''
Santa Barbara Independent
The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States.
History
The weekly paper was founded in November 1986, the result of a merger between ''The Santa ...
'', a weekly with 40,000 audited circulation.
There are also two online newspapers:
* ''
Noozhawk
''Noozhawk'' is an online newspaper that provides coverage for Santa Barbara County, California. While initially focused on the greater Santa Barbara area, ''Noozhawk'' expanded its coverage to the northern part of the county in the summer of 20 ...
'', an online newspaper founded by William MacFadyen in 2007.
* '' Edhat'', a privately owned community news site founded in 2003.
In addition, the business journal ''Pacific Coast Business Times'' covers Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.
Television
The following TV stations broadcast in Santa Barbara Market Area:
*
KEYT
KEYT-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Santa Barbara, California, United States, serving the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC, CBS, and MyNetworkTV. It ...
3, an
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
/
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
television affiliate;
*
K10PV-D
K1, K.I, K01, K 1 or K-1 can mean:
Geography
* K1, another name for Masherbrum, a mountain in the Karakoram range in Pakistan
* K1, a small town to north of Kirkuk city, Iraq
* K1 (building), a high-rise building in Kraków, Poland
Mathematics ...
10, a
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
television affiliate; repeater of
KSBY
KSBY (channel 6) is a television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and maintains s ...
6, broadcast from
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
*
KCOY
KCOY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Santa Maria, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by VistaWest Media, LLC, which maintains ...
12 a
Dabl
Dabl () is an American lifestyle-oriented digital multicast television network owned by the CBS Media Ventures subsidiary of Paramount Global.
The company's formerly-owned other subchannel network, Decades, through CBS News and Stations was l ...
FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
television affiliate; license to Santa Barbara studios broadcast from
KCOY
KCOY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Santa Maria, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by VistaWest Media, LLC, which maintains ...
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
Also seen on cable channel 11.
* K26FT-D 26, a repeater for the secondary
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member station
KCET
KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...
*
KTAS
KTAS (channel 33) is a Spanish=language independent television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California. Owned by Raul and Consuelo Palazuelos, the station maintains studios on Carm ...
33, a
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
affiliate; broadcast from
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
affiliate, and
* KBAB-LD 50, a rebroadcast of the primary
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member station
KOCE
KOCE-TV (channel 50) is a PBS member television station licensed to Huntington Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's secondary PBS membe ...
(licensed to
Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
)
* TV Santa Barbara; Voice-17 (
Public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
) and Culture-71 Arts & Education (formerly owned by
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
).
Radio
*
KTMS
KTMS (990 AM, "News Talk AM 990") is a commercial radio station in Santa Barbara, California. It is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a talk radio format. KTMS is simulcast on FM translator station K250BS at 97.9 MHz, licensed to Solimar B ...
(990 AM) News/Talk
*
KZER
KZER (1250 AM, "Radio Lazer") is a commercial radio station located in Santa Barbara, California. Owned by Lazer Broadcasting, the station airs a regional Mexican music format. KZER is simulcast on FM translator K293CK (106.5 FM) in Santa Ba ...
(1250 AM)
Regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
"NPR for the California Coast" Rebroadcast of
KCLU-FM
KCLU-FM (88.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to Thousand Oaks, California and serves Ventura County. The station, owned by California Lutheran University, is a member of NPR and airs local news, weather forecasts, and traf ...
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...
*
KOSJ
KOSJ (1490 AM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Barbara, California and serves the Santa Barbara area. The station is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and broadcasts a rhythmic oldies music format branded "Old School 94.1 and 1 ...
(1490 AM)
Rhythmic Oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic a ...
*
KDRW
KDRW (88.7 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station that is licensed to Santa Barbara, California. The station is owned by Santa Monica College and mostly simulcasts KCRW and its public radio format, a mix of news, talk and specialty music prog ...
(88.7 FM)
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
Rebroadcast
KCRW
KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...
89.9
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
Rebroadcast
KCBX
KCBX (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California. The public radio station is a member station of NPR and airs a wide variety of programming, including ''All Things Considered'', ''Democracy Now ...
90.1 FM
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
*
KMRO
KMRO (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Camarillo, California and broadcasting to the areas of Ventura County and southern Santa Barbara County, California. The station is owned by The Association For Community Education, In ...
(90.3 FM)
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
Radio Nueva Vida
Radio Nueva Vida (''New Life'') is a Spanish-language Christian radio network based in Camarillo, California, United States. It is owned and operated by The Association for Community Education, Inc., a California non-profit 501(c)(3) organization ...
*
KCSB
KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus.
KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to lear ...
(91.9 FM) (Freeform)
UCSB
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
Alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
KUSC
KUSC (91.5 FM) is a listener-supported classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and operated by the University of Southern California, which also operates student-run Internet s ...
91.5 FM
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
)
*
KSPE
KSPE (94.5 FM, "La Musical 94.5 FM") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Ellwood, California, a district of Goleta in Santa Barbara County. It is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and broadcasts a classic regional Mexican music format. ...
(94.5 FM)
Regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
*
KLOS Klos or KLOS may refer to:
*Klos (surname)
*Klos, Dibër, a town in eastern Albania
** Harketari Klos KF, a defunct football club based in Klos, Dibër
*Klos, Elbasan, a village in central Albania
* Klos, Mallakastër, a village in south-central Alb ...
(95.5 FM)
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
broadcasting from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
*
KLSB
KLSB (97.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to Goleta, California and serves the Santa Barbara and Oxnard— Ventura areas. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation and airs the contemporary Christian music fo ...
(97.5 FM)
Contemporary Christian
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
broadcasting from
Oxnard
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
*
KTYD
KTYD (99.9 FM, pronounced "K-Tide") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Barbara, California and serves Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The station is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. KTYD is t ...
(99.9 FM)
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
*
KHAY
KHAY (100.7 FM, "100.7 KHAY") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Ventura, California and broadcasts to the Oxnard—Ventura area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a country music format featuring programming from Na ...
(100.7 FM)
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
KSBL
KSBL (101.7 MHz, "K-Lite 101.7") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Carpinteria, California, and serves the Santa Barbara and Oxnard—Ventura, California radio markets. The station is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and broadcasts an ...
(101.7 FM)
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
which markets itself as KLITE and is owned by Rincon Broadcasting.
* KRUZ (103.3 FM)
Classic Hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...
, formerly CHR-Rhythmic station KVYB. It broadcasts from La Cumbre Peak at an altitude of and can be heard in San Diego despite a distance of because it propagates across the ocean.
*
KRAZ
KrAZ ( uk, Кременчуцький автомобільний завод, ''Kremenchutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Kremenchuk Automobile Plant, АвтоКрА́З or AvtoKrAZ) is a Ukrainian factory that produces trucks and other special-purpos ...
(105.9 FM)
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
*
KIST
Kist or KIST may refer to:
Abbreviations
* Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, a former university in Kigali, Rwanda, now part of the new University of Rwanda
* K. International School in Tokyo, Japan
*Konark Institute of Science and Tech ...
(107.7 FM)
Regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
Some Los Angeles radio stations can be heard, although somewhat faintly due to the distance. Santa Monica-based
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
radio station
KCRW
KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...
can be heard in Santa Barbara at 106.9 MHz, and San Luis Obispo-based NPR station
KCBX
KCBX (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California. The public radio station is a member station of NPR and airs a wide variety of programming, including ''All Things Considered'', ''Democracy Now ...
at 89.5 FM and 90.9 FM. The
California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...
operated NPR station KCLU (102.3 FM, 1340 AM) based in
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...
in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
also serves Santa Barbara and has reporters covering the city. The only non-commercial radio station based in Santa Barbara is
KCSB-FM
KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus.
KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to lear ...
(91.9 FM), owned by the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
, which uses it as part of its educational mission.
Transportation
Santa Barbara is bisected by
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
, an automotive transportation corridor that links the city to the rest of the Central Coast region,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to the north, and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to the southeast.
Santa Barbara Municipal Airport
Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States. SBA covers 948 acres (384 ha) of land and has three runways.
It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the city of Goleta. The a ...
offers commercial air service. Santa Barbara Aviation provides locally based private jet charter aircraft.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
offers rail service through the ''
Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...
'' and ''
Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District
The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) is a public transit agency providing bus service in the southern portion of Santa Barbara County, California. It serves the cities of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Goleta as well as the uni ...
(MTD) provides local bus service across the city.
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
bus lines provide service to downtown Santa Barbara. Electric shuttles operated by MTD ferry tourists and shoppers up and down lower State Street and to the wharf. Th Clean Air Express bus offers connections to Lompoc and Santa Maria.
Ventura Intercity Service Transit Authority
VCTC Intercity (formerly known as Ventura Intercity Service Transit Authority or VISTA) is a public transit agency providing bus service in Ventura County, California. It provides an intercity bus service between the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, C ...
(VISTA) bus service offers connections south to Ventura and west to Goleta Santa Barbara Airbus offers daily service to/from
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
from downtown Santa Barbara,
Carpinteria
Carpinteria (; es, Carpintería, meaning "Carpentry") is a small seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, it had a population of 13,264 at the 2020 census. Carpinteria is a po ...
and
Goleta
Goleta or La Goleta may refer to:
* ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus
* Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County
* La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...
.
Santa Barbara has an extensive network of bike trails and other resources for cyclists, and the
League of American Bicyclists
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB), officially the League of American Wheelmen, is a membership organization that promotes cycling for fun, fitness and transportation through advocacy and education.
A Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ...
recognizes Santa Barbara as a Silver Level city. Santa Barbara Car Free promotes visiting and exploring the area without use of a car.
Often chosen as a winter training location for professional cycling teams and
snowbirds
The Snowbirds, officially known as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron (french: 431e Escadron de démonstration aérienne, links=no), are the military aerobatics flight demonstration team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The team is based at 15 Wing ...
, Santa Barbara has cycling routes and several climbs, including Gibraltar Road and Old San Marcos/Painted Cave. A bike path and route connects the University of California, Santa Barbara to the downtown area, passing through Goleta and Hope Ranch. Bike rentals are a way for tourists to view Santa Barbara and the surrounding area. In 2009, the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranked as the sixth highest in the United States for percentage of commuters who biked to work (4 percent).
From 1875 until 1929, a
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way existed in Santa Barbara.
Sister cities
Santa Barbara's sister cities are:
*
Kotor
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...
,
Kotor Municipality
Kotor Municipality ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Opština Kotor / Општина Котор) is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. Its administrative center is Kotor. This municipality is located in the southwest part of Montenegro, and includ ...
Western Greece
Western Greece Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας, translit=Periféria Dhitikís Elládhas, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the northw ...
, Greece (2010)
*
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...
,
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
, Mexico (1973)
*
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
,
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
, Philippines (2000)
*
Toba Toba may refer to:
Languages
* Toba Sur language, spoken in South America
* Batak Toba, spoken in Indonesia
People
* Toba people, indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco in South America
* Toba Batak people, a sub-ethnic group of Batak people from ...
Weihai
Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea.
Weihai's popula ...
,
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
, China (1993)
In 2020, Santa Barbara ceased being sister cities with
Dingle, Ireland
Dingle (Irish language, Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coas ...
. In 2006, Santa Barbara ceased being sister cities with Yalta, Crimea.
In popular culture
Several films have been fully or partially set in Santa Barbara, including:
* ''
What Price Hollywood?
''What Price Hollywood?'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Constance Bennett with Lowell Sherman. The screenplay by Gene Fowler, Rowland Brown, Jane Murfin and Ben Markson is based on a story by Adela ...
'', a 1932
pre-Code Hollywood
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
drama
* ''
Steal Big Steal Little
''Steal Big Steal Little'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Andy García in dual roles. It also features Alan Arkin and Joe Pantoliano.
Plot
Mild-mannered, unassuming Ruben Martinez has a slick, unscrupulous t ...
'', a 1995 American drama
* ''
A Date with Judy
''A Date with Judy'' is a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which ran from 1941 to 1950.
The series was co-created by Jerome Lawrence and Aleen Leslie, and based on Leslie's “One Girl Chorus” column in the Pittsburgh Press. La ...
'', a 1948
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
musical film
* ''
The Graduate
''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Wil ...
'', a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama
* ''
The Gumball Rally
''The Gumball Rally'' is a 1976 American comedy film directed and co-written by Charles Bail, a former stunt coordinator also known as Chuck Bail, about an illicit coast-to-coast road race. It was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining- ...
'', a 1976 American comedy
* ''
Cutter's Way
''Cutter's Way'' (also known as ''Cutter and Bone'') is a 1981 American neo noir thriller directed by Ivan Passer. The film stars Jeff Bridges, John Heard, and Lisa Eichhorn. The screenplay was adapted from the 1976 novel ''Cutter and Bone'' by ...
'', a 1981 American
neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...
thriller
* '' Demolition Man'', a 1993 American science fiction action film
* ''
Steal Big Steal Little
''Steal Big Steal Little'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Andy García in dual roles. It also features Alan Arkin and Joe Pantoliano.
Plot
Mild-mannered, unassuming Ruben Martinez has a slick, unscrupulous t ...
'', a 1995 American comedy
* ''
My Favorite Martian
''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. The first two seasons, totaling ...
'', a 1999 American science fiction comedy film, which was filmed on location
* '' Cruel Intentions 3'', a 2004 direct-to-video teen drama film
* ''
Alpha Dog
''Alpha Dog'' is a 2006 American crime film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The cast includes Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Shawn Hato ...
'', 2006, an American crime drama based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz at the hands of
Jesse James Hollywood
Jesse James Hollywood (born January 28, 1980) is an American former drug dealer who kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. He was arrested in 2005 and is serving life without parole at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Fac ...
20th Century Women
''20th Century Women'' is a 2016 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills and starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Lucas Jade Zumann and Billy Crudup. The film is set in 1970s Southern Californi ...
'', a 2016 American comedy-drama
* '' Psych 2: Lassie Come Home'', a 2020 American made-for-television comedy
''
Psych
''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observ ...
'' was set in Santa Barbara, though White Rock, British Columbia, Canada, was used as the filming location.
'' Santa Barbara,'' the popular soap opera set locally, aired on NBC from 1984 to 1993.
The TV series ''
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
''Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law'' is an American legal drama, jointly created by David Victor and former law professor Jerry McNeely, that starred Arthur Hill (Canadian actor), Arthur Hill. The series was broadcast on American Broadcasting Com ...
'' was set in Santa Barbara.
''An American Family'', which is known as the first American reality television show, chronicled the daily lives of a family living in Santa Barbara.
A portion of the 2020 video game '' The Last of Us II'' takes place in Santa Barbara.
In 2022, shooting began on season 4 of the reality TV series '' Love Island,'' which is set at Dos Pueblos Ranch, a 214-acre ranch west of
Goleta
Goleta or La Goleta may refer to:
* ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus
* Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County
* La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...
.
Notable people
See also
*
City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks
The City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks consist of buildings and sites designated by the City of Santa Barbara, California, as historic landmarks. The city also maintains a list of Structures of Merit, a Historic Resources Inventory, and a li ...
*
List of mayors of Santa Barbara, California
This is a list of mayors of Santa Barbara, California since the city's incorporation in April 1850.
See also
* List of mayors of Oxnard, California
* List of mayors of Ventura, California
This is a list of mayors of Ventura, California, begin ...
USS Santa Barbara
USS ''Santa Barbara'' was the name of two ships in the United States Navy. These ships were named for the city of Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara Count ...
Notes
Further reading
* Baker, Gayle. ''Santa Barbara''. Harbor Town Histories, Santa Barbara. 2003. ISBN (print) 0-9710984-1-7 (e-book) 978-0-9879038-1-5
* Birchard, Robert S. ''Silent-Era Filmmaking in Santa Barbara.'' Arcadia Publishing. 2007.
* Graham, Otis L.; Bauman, Robert; Dodd, Douglas W.; Geraci, Victor W.; Murray, Fermina Brel. ''Stearns Wharf: Surviving Change on the California Coast.'' Graduate Program in Public Historical Studies, University of California, 1994.
* Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara, Past and Present''. Tecolote Books, Santa Barbara, CA, 1975.
* Tompkins, Walker A. ''It Happened in Old Santa Barbara.'' Sandollar Press, Santa Barbara, CA, 1976.
* Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara History Makers''. McNally & Loftin, Santa Barbara. 1983.
The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...