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#4 Santa Barbara Royal Presidio
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My wife and I had been visiting the mission and related constructions in Santa Barbara in September of 2003 and were tired as we left for home. The first we saw the Santa Barbara Royal Presidio was on the way out of town. Two streets breach the restored wall ofthe Presideo with an intersection toward one corner of the parade grounds. A quick look and we promised ourselves that we would stop the next time. We kept that promise on a Saturday in May of 2004 when El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park was our primary destination. We spent several hours exploring the three pieces of the restored adobe Presidio and the adjacent Commander's home. Restoration is continuing, so we plan to return every few years. We visited it again briefly a few months alter as part of the Red Tile Walking Tour of historic Santa Barbara.
In April of 1782, Lieutenant José Francisco Orrtega and a party of soldiers and settlers arrived in at a site between the Santa Ynes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. El Presidio Real de Santa Barbara, the fourth presidio, was founded in Santa Barbara on , four years before the founding of Mission Santa Barbara. On that day, celebrated Mass and thus, established the city of Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Presidio provided security to the missions along the Central Coast between San Fernando and the Pueblo of Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. Lieutenant José Francisco Ortega, the first Comandante, was succeeded in 1784 by Lieutenant Felipe de Goicoechea who commanded until 1802. The original construction was a palisade of vertical logs joined by horizontal sticks and covered with mud. Between 1784 and 1788, the adobe structure was built.
The adobe structures formed a quadrangle about four hundred feet on each side with a nine-foot outer wall completed in 1789. Between the outer wall and the adobe buildings were small individual yards. In the center of one wall was the church and in the opposite wall was the gate. At two opposite corners were guard towers from which the entire perimeter of the Presidio could be observed. Later, about 1792, the original Chapel, too small and ready to collapse, was replaced with a larger Chapel. A new outer defense wall was constructed on this side. Earthquakes in 1806 and 1812 caused extensive damage to the structures. After the Mexican Resolution in 1821, all people refusing to pledge loyalty to the new government were expelled. The Presidio further deteriorated and by the 1840, the Presidio was in partial ruin. With the arrival of Colonel John C. Fremont and the US occupation, the Presidio ceased to be a military installation. El Presidio Real de Santa Barbara was the last Presidio to end service.
The Presidio had deteriorated and was no longer of importance when the streets of Santa Barbara were laid out in the 1850as and 1860. Now, the reconstructed structures yield to streets and an intersection is located just inside one corner of the central plaza. Other, now historic, building were later built on the site, including Santa Barbara's China Town. Parts of the Presidio were demolished in 1925.
The presidio had deteriorated and the city was growing when the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation began to preserve and reconstruct the site in 1963. The reconstruction of the Chapel was completed in 1985. Careful archeological excavation uncovered the original stone foundations, all that remained, which guided the reconstruction of the Chapel. Part of the surviving structure is El Cuartel, the second oldest residence in California. (See San Diego Old Town for the oldest residence) El Cuartel was the residence of the last soldier who guarded the West Gate of the Plaza de Armas. Current Archaeological work is preparing the original stone foundations for reconstruction of a second corner.
A block away from the Presidio is Casa de la Guerra, the home of Presidio Commandant José de la Guerra. This U-shaped home was built in 1820. The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation has been researching and restoring this structure since 1990.
El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park is located at 123 East Canon Perdido Street, the intersection Canon Perdido Street and Santa Barbara Street.
PO Box 388
Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0388
Directions: Exit Highway 101 at Garden Street going north (away from the beach and into town). Turn left on Canon Perdido Street and find a place to park.
 Church and front facade. Photo date: 8-7-04. |
 Church and front facade. Photo date: 8-7-04. |
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Contact | Ken Larson | Kesign Design Consulting | K L Images | Places Earth |