Santa Barbara is a coastal, palm-lined city ringed by the Santa Ynez Mountains in central California known for its distinctive architecture, Mediterranean climate, and long-operating Franciscan Mission. It lies at the center of the longest south-facing stretch of the west coast of the contiguous US.
Ninety miles north of Los Angeles, the city of 80,000 is host to a concentration of Hollywood celebrities, Google’s Quantum AI lab, and the University of California at Santa Barbara—the origin of six Nobel prize winners.
Santa Barbara structures follow a standardized Spanish Colonial Revival style, defined by red clay roof tiles, white stucco walls, arches, courtyards, painted tile, towers, and decorative iron. The style descends from southern Mediterranean cities and Spanish colonies like St. Augustine, Florida.
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The Indigenous people of the central Californian coast made advancements in basketry, small stone tools, the use of shell beads as currency, and plank canoes for seafaring. In the years before European contact, their numbers reach 25,000 across 150 settlements.
IN 1959, archaeologists found a human femur jutting out from a rock face on Santa Rosa Island. Using the then-new technology of radiocarbon dating, they measured the age of the remains at 13,000 years—the oldest in the continent.
Disasters such as the Cuyahoga River fire and the Santa Barbara oil spill prompted Congress and President Nixon to establish the Environmental Protection Agency in December 1970, with the goal of unifying federal efforts to control pollution.
Divers in the Santa Barbara channel innovated a more efficient type of diving helmet in the 1960s that used helium to allow for longer, deeper excursions for oil surveying, abalone collecting, and more. These innovators have since set the standard worldwide for military and industrial diving.
Torrey pines are extremely rare—believed to be endemic to just two pockets of California coast. In Carpinteria, to the southeast of Santa Barbara, stands the Woodholme Torrey pine, the world's tallest at 126 feet, first planted in 1883.
Thousands of years before Europeans arrived, indigenous populations settled and flourish in the region of Santa Barbara. Kenneth Kahn, the Santa Ynez band's chairman, shares insights on the history of the Chumash in the region.
Dozens of buildings across the city stand out among the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture of Santa Barbara with Shelton's distinct, whimsical approach to the style. This gallery hosts stunning shots of his projects, including the Ablitt Tower and the Small Cow House (topped, of course, by a small cow statue).
The central California city with the year-round Mediterranean climate weaves a fascinating history of indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and then US history. This three-minute overview touches on the city's layered story, distinct architecture, and many celebrities.
Joseph Chapman was born in Boston and began his career as a pirate, once raiding the Ortega estate in Santa Barbara. Nearly sentenced to death, Chapman was spared by the intervention of Maria Ortega. The two would marry years later after Chapman reformed his ways, contributing to the agriculture and architecture of coastal California.
As part of one of the world's most biodiverse hotspots, Santa Barbara County is home to thousands of unique species, the majority of which are not found anywhere else in the world. This database compiles facts, photos, and more for each species, sortable by plants, animals, and more.
Art, music, sports, entertainment, movies, and many other subjects—these elements define who we are as a society and how we express ourselves as a culture. Take a deep dive into the topics shaping our shared norms, values, institutions, and more.