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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.
Guide to the County
Archives of California
California Vital Records
CAGenWeb County Pages
CAGenWeb Clickable County Map
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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: info@sbgen.org
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
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This page was last
updated January 1, 2012.
© 1997-2012 by the
Santa Barbara County Coordinator
for the CAGenWeb Project
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