The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located in Santa Barbara , California , U.S. It features relics from Chumash , Spanish , Mexican , Yankee , and Chinese cultures , including artifacts , photographs , furnishings and textiles, dating as far back as the 15th century.
18-496: The Museum is located at 136 East De la Guerra in the heart of historic downtown Santa Barbara. The facility was built in 1965 by the Santa Barbara Historical Society . In October 1932 a voluntary association was formed consisting of representatives from a number of local organizations. The Articles of Association laid out the purposes of this new group: to foster research and study of the history of
36-432: A $ 3.5 million installation of a state-of-the-art air filtration and climate control system and a complete redesign of the exhibit galleries. The core gallery installation, "The Story of Santa Barbara," opened to the public, showcasing over four and a half centuries of Santa Barbara history. Expansion of the museum's physical plant was the focus of The Gift of History Capital Campaign launched in 2003. In March 2007, Phase I of
54-530: A 99-year lease to the Society for a parcel in downtown Santa Barbara and a building fund campaign was launched. In 1963 ground was broken for the adobe museum building – 25,000 square feet (2,300 m) of exhibition, office, and collections storage space. In 1964, the Society also acquired two adobes adjacent to the museum grounds from the Rancheros Visitadores, the 1817 Covarrubias Adobe and
72-512: A fundraising drive to purchase the house and have it moved adjacent to the Trussell-Winchester Adobe on West Montecito Street. After a massive restoration project, Fernald House opened to the public as an historic home museum in 1962. The dream of a permanent home for the Society was fulfilled with the dedication of the museum building at 136 East De la Guerra Street on February 28, 1965. In 1961 Santa Barbara County granted
90-487: Is also on the Santa Barbara City Landmark. The house is located at 715 Santa Barbara Street. The house is L-shaped with four rooms. The original Spanish tile roof was later replaced. Don Domingo Carrillo used local Chumash Indians labor to build the house. He built the house for his wife Concepción Pico Carrillo (Jan. 09, 1797 -?). Concepción and Domingo married on October 14, 1810, Concepción
108-733: Is the sister of Pío Pico , the last governor of Alta California . In the 1830s Domingo Carrillo was a leader of the Santa Barbara Presidio . The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, to defend the Spanish missions in California in New Spain . The adobe-house is named after a later occupant José María Covarrubias , who married Carrillo's daughter María in 1834. After Carrillo death in March 1837, his wife continued to live in
126-723: The Franciscans at the Santa Barbara Mission regarding use of a portion of the mission cloister for office and exhibition space. A license agreement was signed in January 1954 and the first exhibit was held in the new quarters in May. The Society would remain housed in the Old Mission for the next eleven years. In April 1955 the first issue of the Society's journal, Noticias, was published and this quarterly devoted to
144-683: The Historic Adobe, c. 1836. The Covarrubias is used as a lecture space and houses the office of the Docent Council; the Historic Adobe headquarters the Rancheros Visitadores. Two additional events of note in the decade of the 1960s was the dedication of the Gledhill Library in 1967, named in honor of W. Edwin Gledhill and his wife Andriette, who served for many years as executive director and Curator, respectively. In 1981
162-534: The Santa Barbara Historical Society became a California non-profit corporation. As membership grew, Society activities increased. In 1947, the Society published its first book, China Trade Days in California by D. MacKenzie Brown, based upon the papers of Alpheus Thompson, an early prosperous Santa Barbara merchant. The Society's growth necessitated a larger space than the courthouse tower room. Katherine Bagg Hastings offered her home,
180-412: The Society began an oral history program which to date has logged over 500 interviews. Professional development was a focus in the mid-1980s as staff increased and departmental specialization initiated. A Long Range Plan, adopted in 1985 and annually reviewed, became the foundation for future advancements. In 2000 began a multi-year redesign of museum grounds and upgrade of the museum building. This entailed
198-406: The Trussell-Winchester Adobe at 412 West Montecito Street, as a new headquarters. The house had been built in 1854 by Horatio Gates Trussell for his family. Mrs. Hastings arranged to transfer ownership of the house to the Society upon her death; this transfer took place in 1955. The search for a permanent home continued throughout the 1950s. Early in the decade the Society opened negotiations with
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#1732790716116216-586: The adobe until her death. José María Covarrubias was from France and came to California in 1834. Covarrubias became Pío Pico private secretary in 1845. In 1849 Covarrubias was a delegate to the California Constitutional Convention . From 1849 to 1862 Covarrubias was a member of the California State Assembly , then served as a Judge. The Covarrubias families owned and lived in the home till 1910. The home
234-531: The city and county of Santa Barbara; to collect, preserve, and make available materials having to do with same; and to provide for the exhibition of such materials. This new association was the Santa Barbara Historical Society. Soon after its founding, the Society was offered the “tower” room in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse as an exhibition space and the Society began to collect, catalogue, and store artifacts and documents. For
252-729: The collection vaults redesign and renovation began in line with the highest standards of collections preservation and management. In 2017, the Museum expanded adding the Edward Borein Gallery. Covarrubias Adobe The Covarrubias adobe is a California Historical Landmark in Santa Barbara, California . The house is one of the oldest in Santa Barbara, built in 1817. The adobe became a California State Historical Landmark No. 308 on September 12, 1939. The house
270-487: The first ten years, little changed in the character of the Historical Society. In 1942, the Society moved to establish classes of membership, admit individuals, and set up a schedule of dues. The result was a considerable increase in membership and in the acquisition of materials for collections. The next step was taken the following year when the Society was incorporated under California law; on June 7, 1943,
288-680: The house to Los Rancheros Visitadores , a riding club for $ 15,000. The club did reconstruction and strengthening of the house in 1940. Ownership and use changed and many times, In World War II, it was the British War Relief Society , then a Chamber of Commerce , then the office for the Santa Barbara National Horse and Flower Show. In 1964, the Santa Barbara Historical Society purchased the Covarrubias and adjacent Historic adobe in 1964. Part of
306-487: The study of the Santa Barbara region has been in publication ever since. In 1959 the Society acquired the Judge Charles Fernald Mansion. The fourteen-room home, built by one of Santa Barbara's most prominent citizens of the late 19th century, was threatened with destruction in 1958 upon the death of the judge's last surviving child. The Society's Executive Director, W. Edwin Gledhill, spearheaded
324-483: Was sold a few times, in 1920 the house was sold to John Southworth. Southworth was a historian and author of history books on Los Angeles, San Diego, Baja California and Santa Barbara. In 1920 Southworth completed overdue repairs. Southworth also purchased another historic adobe built in 1825 and moved it near the Covarrubias adobe. Too old to be a house, Southworth turned the house into an antique shop. In 1936 he leased both houses to restaurant-nightclub. In 1938 he sold
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