Santa Barbara County
General Location
Santa Barbara lies 92mi/148km north of Los Angeles (about two hours traveling time) and 330mi/530km south of San Francisco (seven hours traveling). The U.S. 101 passes through the town. Thanks to its favorable position and climate - there is some smog and
mist especially in August and September, but the sun shines on 84% of all days - Santa Barbara is a favorite holiday resort.
Ecology
The ecological movement is quite strong in Santa Barbara, because an oil slick in 1969 contaminated the whole beach for a long time. That is one of the reasons why there is a prohibition on extracting more oil from the sea. Even though the state government has repeatedly raised the possibility of a renewal of extraction during the last few years, they have been unable to force it through in the face of local opposition.
History
Origin
Santa Barbara developed around the tenth of the 21 Mission stations, built in 1786, and around the excellent harbor. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo had probably already discovered the channel between the mainland and the offshore island in 1542, but it was not until 60 years later that the Spaniard Sebastiano Vizcaino named the settlement "Santa Barbara", having landed on the coast on that Saint's Day. A further 180 years went by before Governor Gaspar de Portola landed there with his troops in 1782, and Father Junipero Serra celebrated the first Mass in the recently-built Presidio. Serra did not live to witness the completion of the mission, one of the most beautiful in all California.
19th century
Like the rest of California, Santa Barbara was slow to develop. The original Mission Church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812; the second, with a classical façade and two towers, had just been completed when the Mexicans decided to secularize the mission stations in 1833. Santa Barbara's early history is closely linked with the Spaniards and Mexicans. The town has retained that character to the present day. The first North Americans to come to this area were traders from New England, seeking to buy hides and tallow. On Christmas Day 1846 the town was taken by the Americans without a struggle.
Spanish influence
A second earthquake in 1925 reduced a large part of Santa Barbara to rubble. The Mission station was damaged and took two years to repair (its façade was not finished until 1950).
Only a few of the 19th century Victorian houses are left. Following the earthquake it was decided to rebuild the damaged area in the old Spanish mission style. This gave the town a uniform character unique in California. The most important public buildings in this style are: El Paseo, built round the old "De La Guerra" house, the imposing County Court House and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Many streets also retained their Spanish names. Their Spanish character was further emphasized by fountains, rubbish bins and even letter-boxes being decorated with Spanish tiles, especially in State Street, the town's main thoroughfare.
General
Today the town is one of the most beautiful in the country and has the great advantage of having most of its places of interest close together, so that they can all be seen quite easily within a short period of time.
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