Santa Barbara County CA Archives History - Books .....The City Of Santa Barbara 1891
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Book Title: A Memorial And Biographical History Of The Counties Of Santa Barbara, Ventura, And San Luis Obispo

THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA.

  From Point Concepcion the Santa Ynes mountains follow eastward the line of the
coast, at a little distance from the shore. The mountains rise rocky and rugged,
3,000 to 7,000 feet high, and the strip of land between these and the sea, two
to five miles wide, slopes gently toward the south, is thoroughly protected on
the north, and  is composed of very rich soil,  which has received the wash of
the hills for ages. Seven or eight miles to the westward runs a range of hills,
which, behind the town reach their greatest height, of 500 to 60O feet. Their
level tops form the mesa-table or plateau land. From the surf bound beach, the
land rises gradually toward the northwest until it is 350 feet above the sea at
two miles inland. Thus the town lies on a southeastern slope shut in and
protected on the north and northwest by a range as high as the Green Mountains,
and on the south, and southwest by the mesa. Thus the trade winds cannot reach
this place; the close vicinity of the sea prevents the heats of summer from
reaching the degree attained at inland points in this latitude and the
neighboring mountains absorb dampness and give tone to the atmosphere.

  The topography of Santa Barbara is not a little baffling to the stranger, who,
accustomed to regarding the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary of this
continent, distrusts his own senses when he sees the sun rising out of that body
of water. While the general trend of the coast from Ventura to Santa Barbara is
straight westward, just at this city it curves outward, and for a short distance
runs southwestward, the city being laid out : on this southwest curve, with its
streets at right angles to that part of the beach west of the wharf. State
street runs almost directly northwest from the ocean, while the cross-streets
extend almost due northeast and southwest. This arrangement of the streets was
determined by the Spanish settlers who preceded American surveying, and the u
bias" arrangement, confusing as it at first is, has some manifest advantages
over the arrangement of most cities, planned with the points of the compass. As
the city lies on a slope, the streets should properly take the direction that
most facilitates drainage. Then, a house whose corners, rather than its sides,
are toward the cardinal points of the compass, receives the sunlight in each
room some time during the day, as would not happen in houses set "square on."

  The few buildings here previous to 1850 were placed without regard to
regularity or to the location of their neighbors, and there were no streets. The
first grant of which the archives, such as they are, contain a record, was made
February 14, 1885. Previous to this, the commandante gave verbal permits to
occupy small lots, the right continuing as long as the oecupancy; and these
rights were generally respected as valid prior to 1851. Most of the lots of land
in the central portion of the city were granted during the period from 1846 to
1850, while the old ayuntamiento system of town government was continued, with
the offices of prefect, alcalde, regidores, and sindico. In 1851 the town
council passed a resolution that no title to a town lot should be deemed valid
unless it should be recorded in a book kept for that purpose. This book contains
the record of 196 lots, varying in size from a few varas to 150 varas square. (A
vara is thirty-three and one-half inches.) The descriptions of the land were for
the most part given with so much vagueness and uncertainty as to give rise to
many lawsuits.

  Four leagues of laud were confirmed to the mayor and common council of the
city of Santa Barbara, by the United States District Court, and, the appeal
having been dismissed, the decree of the Federal Court became final. The final
survey was approved April 8, 1870. A patent for these four leagues was issued by
the United States on May 31, 1872.

  It is difficult to speak with any degree of certainty as to special
proceedings prior to 1850, since the archives of that period are missing.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY 
OF THE COUNTIES OF
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California

Illustrated

Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Prospective Future; with Profuse illustrations of its Beautiful Scenery,
Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and
Biographical Mention of  many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of
to-day,

BY MRS. YDA ADDIS STORKE.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors -will
never achieve anything worthy to he remembered with pride by remote
descendants."—Macaulay.

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1891.

Barlow-Sinclair Printing Co., Chicago.


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