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

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

  From the United States census returns for the year ending June 1, 1870, are
taken the following statistics:

  Population of the town, 2,970; number of births, 131; deaths of children under
one year of age, 9; ratio of births to deaths, 14 1/2 to 1. Total number of
deaths, including adults, for the same period, 23; percentage of deaths for the
whole population, 1 in 136, or 77/100 of 1 per cent. Population of the county,
7,987; number of births for above period, 235; total number of deaths of
children under 1 year of age, 15; ratio of births to deaths, 15 3/4 to 1, or
nearly 16 to 1. Total number of deaths in the county, 64, two being accidental;
percentage of deaths in total population, 1 in 125, or 80/100 of 1 per cent.

  In 1871, the letters of Charles Nordoff, in Harpers' Monthly Magazine and
other Eastern periodicals, directed the attention of Eastern pleasure and health
seekers to Santa Barbara and its vicinity. Then followed from 1871 to 1875 a
great influx of immigration to this county. Blocks in the city of Santa Barbara,
which in 1870 found a slow sale at $100, rapidly appreciated in value, until
they readily brought $5,000 and $6,000. The city was transformed from, a Mexican
village of 1,500 population to a charming town, with all the characteristics of
New England villages except as to climate. Lands in the county which theretofore
had been used exclusively for grazing, now became farming and fruit lands. From
this period dates the beginning of the olive and the walnut culture; almond
trees were extensively planted; corn and barley were produced in large
quantities. The cultivation of the bean was begun in Carpenteria and La Patira.
The failure of the Bank of California, in 1875, brought all this advancement to
an end, and the county slumbered until the boom of 1887.

  In June, 1886, the Southern Pacific Railway Company formed an auxiliary
corporation entitled the Southern Pacific Branch Railroad Company, and began the
construction of a railroad from Soledad in Monterey County, then the terminus of
the Northern Division of said company, to Saugus, a station near Newhall, on the
Southern Pacific main line. For several years a steady advance in the values of
real property had been going on in Los Angeles and adjoining counties. The
construction of this branch line extended this impulse in prices to the counties
of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. A general advance sometimes
trebling and quadrupling the original price was had along the line of the
Newport road. A period of building activity sprang up; the population of these
counties was rapidly increased. New hotels and business houses were constructed
in all the principal places-the Rose and the Anacapa at Ventura, the Arlington
at Santa Barbara and the Ramon in San Luis Obispo. Ventura town laid many miles
of concrete sidewalk, and generally graded and improved its streets. State
street in Santa Barbara was paved with bituminous rock for a distance of two
miles, at a cost of $180,000. In August, 1887, the railroad ceased construction,
and immediately, presto, change! a sudden cessation of activity took place.
Property, which had rapidly changed hands, now became slow of sale, and a
considerable drop in prices occurred. Building operations largely ceased and
further improvements were not attempted. Recently, under promises of a speedy
resumption of work upon the railroad, financial affairs have assumed a better
aspect, and a more healthful feeling has been given to business.

  During the boom of 1887 there were recorded twenty-eight sales ranging from
$10,000 to $250,000, which alone aggregated $1,679,000. There were, further,
about $500,000 worth of property covered by bonds; and at the lowest estimate
$3,000,000 in sales of smaller figures than those just given; thus during seven
months of that year over $5,000,000 changed hands.

  During the same period of seven months, at least $500,000 were expended in
improvements, buildings, etc.

  The Santa Barbara postoffice is of the second class; its staff comprises a
postmaster (salary $2,300) and three assistants. The total receipts of the
postal account average $8,000 per annum. The registry business comprises about
3,000 pieces yearly. The money order business, domestic and international, and
postal notes, paid, for 1890, are estimated at. $35,000; postal money orders and
postal notes issued approximate $25,000 per annum. There are in this office 675
boxes, of which perhaps eighty per cent, are rented at 75 cents per quarter.

  Santa Barbara has had free postal delivery since July 15, 1890, there being
three carriers, at $600 per year.

  The city officials of Santa Barbara, September, 1890, are as follows: Mayor,
P. J. Barber; Councilmen, Jos. B. Wentling, Frank P. Moore, M. F. Burke, C. E.
Sherman, H. B. Brastow; Police Judge, W. H. Wheaton; Assessor, A. Davis;
Treasurer, Ulpiano Yndart; City Attorney, Thomas McNulta; Tax Collector, W. S.
Maris; Clerk, F. N. Gutierrez; Surveyor, Engineer and Street Superintendent,
John K. Harrington; Janitor and Fire Engineer, J. T. Stewart; Marshal, D. W.
Martin; Night Watchmen, G. J. Fullington, Thomas Knightly; School Trustees, C.
A. Storke, George F. Trenwith, and J. T. Johnston.

  The old graveyard adjoining the Santa Barbara Mission must have received 6,000
to 10,000 dead into its narrow limits.

  Soon after the coming of the Americans, a site for a new cemetery was chosen
on the hillside, immediately north of the town. The town plat, when surveyed,
was found to include portions of this ground; and as the city was built up about
it, much complaint was made of the interment of bodies there, and further use
was prohibited by a city ordinance. This was, however, disregarded by the then
president of the Mission, and so the grand jury took up the question, in
September, 1873, and burials here were then discontinued. Thomas Hope donated a
tract of _____ acres in a district lying about five miles from Santa Barbara,
toward the Patera, and this is the present Roman Catholic burying ground.


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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