About Santa
Barbara County
Santa Barbara
County is in California's Central Coast region. It is
sometimes considered the northernmost part of Southern
California. Although it shares excellent weather,
Mission-style architecture, and beautiful beaches with
the rest of Southern California, the Santa Barbara area
is physically remote, and has more of the laid-back
attitude of the Central Coast.
Santa Barbara County is surrounded on the north by San
Luis Obispo County, on the northeast by Kern County, and
on the east by Ventura County. As of 2000 the county had
a population of 399,347. The estimated total population
of Santa Barbara County as of January 2006 was 421,625,
according to The California Department of Finance. The
county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is
Santa Maria.
South Coast of Santa Barbara
County, view looking northeast, showing,
from left to right, Isla Vista, Goleta, Hope Ranch, Santa
Barbara.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SBSouthCoast.jpg
History
The Santa Barbara County area, including the Northern
Channel Islands, was first settled by Native Americans at
least 13,000 years ago. Evidence for a Paleoindian
presence has been found in the form of a fluted
Clovis-like point found in the 1980s along the western
Santa Barbara Coast, as well as the remains of Arlington
Springs Man found on Santa Rosa Island in the 1960s. For
thousands of years, the area was home to the Chumash
tribe of Native Americans, complex hunter-gatherers who
lived along the coast and in interior valleys leaving
rock art in many locations including Painted Cave.
Europeans first contacted the Chumash in AD 1542, when
three Spanish ships under the command of Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo explored the area. The Santa Barbara Channel
received its name from Spanish explorer Sebastian
Vizcaino when he sailed over the channel waters in 1602;
he entered the channel on December 4, the day of the
feast of Santa Barbara. Although Spanish ships associated
with the Manila Galleon trade probably contacted the
Chumash intermittently during this
"protohistoric" period, the Spanish first
colonized Santa Barbara County in AD 1769, when the
DeAnza expedition explored the area and laid plans to
establish a series of missions and presidios (forts).
Mission Santa Barbara was founded on December 4, 1786 in
what is now Santa Barbara. The county derives its name
from the mission.
European contacts had devastating effects on the Chumash
Indians, including a series of disease epidemics that
drastically reduced Chumash population. The Chumash
survived, however, and thousands of Chumash descendants
still live in the Santa Barbara area or surrounding
counties.
Santa Barbara County was one of the 26 original counties
of California, formed in 1850 at the time of statehood.
Parts of the county's territory were given to Ventura
County in 1872.
Street scene in
Santa Barbara
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Santabarbarastreetscene.jpg
Viticulture
Viticulture in Santa Barbara County is traceable to
missionary plantings in the Milpas Valley late in the
18th century. Famous for ripe, yet elegant, Chardonnay
and Pinot Noir, the County is also gaining a reputation
for Rhone varietals including Syrah and Viognier. Santa
Barbara wine grapes now command among the highest prices
anywhere in the state.
Located on California's South Central Coast, Santa
Barbara County is an oasis of rolling hills, ancient oak
trees and cattle ranches. The County now claims more than
60 wineries and 21,000 acres of vine. Santa Barbara's
fame hasn’t come without hurdles, as environmental
issues and the social impact of big business are major
issues for a region striving to maintain its identity.
Source: Wikipedia
For an expanded
history, click here.
California
Vital Records
CAGenWeb County Pages
CAGenWeb Clickable County Map
Search This Site
To post your
Queries, Biographies, Bible Records, Deeds,
Obituaries, Pensions, and Wills, please visit the
Rootsweb
Message Board for Santa Barbara County, California.
Santa Barbara County Message Board
Santa Barbara
County Mailing List
Topics of genealogical and historical
significance to Santa Barbara County are discussed,
as well as queries of local interest.
To subscribe, send the command subscribe
(and nothing else) to CASBARBA-L-request@rootsweb.com.
You can search
the archives for a specific message or browse them,
going from one message to another.
Search
the CASBARBA archives
Browse
the CASBARBA archives
For questions
about this list, contact the list administrator at
CASBARBA-admin@rootsweb.com.
Santa Barbara
County Genealogical Society
316 Castillo St., Santa Barbara, California
Mail to: PO Box 1303, Goleta, CA 93116-1303
Phone [805] 884-9909
E-Mail: sbcgs@msn.com
HELLO - WELCOME!
My name is LaRae Halsey-Brooks, and my daughter,
Eireann Brooks, and I are the new County Co-Coordinators
for the Santa Barbara County CAGenWeb Project.
I have been researching our family roots for 30+ years
and have
volunteered for many genealogical libraries over the
years.
My daughter, Eireann, is an attorney in Santa Barbara,
CA.
She and I have been creating and maintaining County and
Special Project webpages for the USGenWeb for 11+ years.
If you would like to contribute Biographical Sketches of
your
Santa Barbara County families to this website, please
let us know.
We will be happy to create a special page for your
material
and include any photographs, scanned documents,
or other items you'd like to add to the page.
We also would like a list of your Santa Barbara County
Surnames
with dates and townships. We'll include a link back
so others researching your families can contact you.
If you live in or near Santa Barbara County and would
like to
take digital photographs of cemeteries and tombstones,
please let us know.
If you have
access to existing cemetery transcriptions,
land records, tax rolls, school class rosters/photos,
etc.,
we would be most grateful for any and all submissions.
If you are
interested in hosting another county
in California for the CAGenWeb Project,
adoptable counties can be found on the county index page,
or you may contact State Coordinator Martha
Graham.
Please check
back from time to time
as we add more information to the page!
Thank you!
LaRae
& Eireann
Santa Barbara
County Co-Coordinators:
LaRae Halsey-Brooks & Eireann
Brooks
You are visitor number:
This page was
last updated January 3, 2010.
� 1997-2010 by
the Santa Barbara County Coordinator
for the CAGenWeb Project
|
