Santa Barbara

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The site of the Presidio was chosen by Felipe de Neve, the fourth governor of Las Californias. Perceiving that the coast at Santa Barbara was vulnerable to attack, he located a spot near a harbor which was sheltered from severe storms. Construction began on April 21, 1782, and Padre Junípero Serra blessed the site. By the next year, a temporary facility had been completed, and a wheat field planted by the local Chumash Indians of Chief Yanonalit. The early Presidio consisted of mud and brush walls around a quadrangle 330 feet on a side. The post had 61 officers and men in 1783. The first comandante, José Francisco Ortega, planned the fortifications and irrigation works. He obtained livestock for the presidio from Mission San Buenaventura, established orchards, and began large-scale farming. In 1784, Felipe de Goicoechea took over as comandante, supervising construction of the fortifications and living quarters for the soldiers and their families. Two years later, construction of the nearby Mission Santa Barbara began in 1786. The pueblo or town of Santa Barbara developed around the Presidio, which offered protection for the residents. The chapel in the Presidio was the primary place of worship for the residents of early Santa Barbara, until its destruction by the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake.

In Their Own Story

At the time of the Mexican–American War in Alta California, very little of the fortress remained in usable condition, and on December 27, 1846, John C. Frémont ascended San Marcos Pass during rainy weather and came up on the Presidio and the town from behind. The Presidio surrendered without a fight, as the garrison was far south in the Pueblo de Los Angeles. Frémont had heard that the Mexican army was lying in ambush for him at Gaviota Pass, the only other sensible route over the mountains at that time, and had crossed the difficult muddy track on San Marcos Pass to outflank them, but this move turned out not to have been necessary. Mexican General Andrés Pico later surrendered his force to Frémont, recognizing that the war was lost.

Reader's Guide

The current El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park site sits between Anacapa and Garden Street on East Canon Perdido Street in downtown Santa Barbara. The main portion of the site is across the street from the Santa Barbara city Post Office, and is about two blocks from city hall, De la Guerra Plaza and two other museums, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum and the Casa de la Guerra and includes a reconstructed quadrangle with soldiers' quarters and a chapel. Only two portions of the original presidio quadrangle survive to this day: a remnant of the Cañedo Adobe, named for José María Cañedo, the Soldado de Cuera to whom it was deeded in lieu of back pay when the Presidio fell to inactivity, and the remnants of a two-room soldiers quarters, called El Cuartel. The Cañedo Adobe is currently serving as the visitor center for the state park, and El Cuartel is largely unmodified. The site administrator, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP), reconstructed the rest of the site, with the most recent construction—two rooms in the northwest corner of the site—finished in May 2006. The reconstruction is ongoing, with the more recent construction of two more rooms in the northwest corner. The Presidio Chapel and courtyard were also completed during the construction of the quadrangle. The chapel is occasionally used for civic events such as musical concerts and lectures. Although not a canonical Roman Catholic oratory, Roman Catholic weddings are occasionally performed in the chapel with the permission of the local Roman Catholic Santa Barbara Pastoral Regional bishop.

Did You Know?

• The Presidio of Santa Barbara has the distinction of being the last military outpost built by Spain in the New World.
• El Cuartel is the second oldest surviving building in California; only the chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano is older.
• The Presidio became a California Historical Landmark in 1958 and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
• The Presidio Chapel was destroyed by the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake.
• The Presidio of Santa Barbara is a participating site of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.