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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
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
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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
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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 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 7, 2013.
© 1997-2013 by the
Santa Barbara County Coordinator
for the CAGenWeb Project
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