All News
Cooking with a Pinch of History: Ensalada de Papas
by Brittany Avila Spring is in the air! And with summer just around the corner, I thought a light, fresh, and healthy recipe would be appropriate. This recipe for ensalada de papas is simply an earlier version of our modern day potato salad, in which globs of mayo is not necessary for culinary success. It’s […]
Archaeology
Artist Specializing in Depictions of Early California Visits the Presidio.
by Anne Petersen In November 2012 author and illustrator David Rickman paid a visit to El Presidio SHP. David paints amazingly evocative images of early California, with an emphasis on the dress and equipment of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century residents. His paintings are based on meticulous research into both the historic record and historical collections. He […]
- Tile Production at the Santa Barbara Presidio: Part 3, Kilns and Firing
- Tile Production at the Santa Barbara Presidio: Part 2, Forming Roof and Floor Tiles
- Tile Production at the Santa Barbara Presidio: Part 1, Mining and Processing Raw Clay
- Recent Research Leads to Re-analysis of Rare Religious Medal
- What’s Beneath our Feet! Using Geophysical Survey Techniques as an Archaeological Tool
Collections
Launching into our 50th Anniversary, and a New Online Collections Website (It’s a Big Day)!
by Anne Petersen In 2013, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary and we want you to be a part of it! We have several wonderful and creative ways for you to join in our year-long celebration, from drawing mental maps of the Presidio Neighborhood, to sending in photographs […]
Cooking with a Pinch of History
Cooking With a Pinch of History: Fried Fish
by Brittany Avila In an effort to broaden our culinary horizons in relationship to our historical work, I have decided to produce a cooking series to share with blog readers. I offer myself as the inexperienced chef, and will attempt to cook traditional recipes from Early California in my modern kitchen. I will strive to […]
Education Programs
Dia de los Muertos Craft Day
by Karen Schultz Anderson Each year Dia de los Muertos Craft Day takes on a more spiritual meaning to me. It is a great alternative to the “how-scared-can-you get” feeling that dominates Halloween. I especially like the fact that this Latino holiday honors those that that have passed away in a colorful and joyous manner. […]
Exhibits
Junípero Serra in Mexico Exhibit Opens at Casa de la Guerra
by Anne Petersen The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit at Casa de la Guerra this Saturday, February 2. Junípero Serra in Mexico: Five Missions in the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro includes stunning photographic prints by Pacific Grove-based photographer Jeffrey Becom and exquisitely detailed line […]
Gardens
Encouraging our Fledgling Winter Garden.
The Presidio Heritage Garden is experiencing a seasonal transition. If you haven’t visited recently, this would be a nice time to stop by to see what’s new. Several weeks ago we harvested late summer and fall crops including three different varieties of potatoes (grown in buckets) and Christmas lima beans. We recently planted several new […]
Preservation Projects
Pearl Pays for Painting the Pico!
by Mike Imwalle Sorry, I could not resist an alliteration like that. Thanks to a generous grant of $2,000.00 from the Pearl Chase Society, the recently re-roofed Pico Adobe was given another lift last week when it was painted by Channel Coast Corporation (CCC). Thanks in part to a generous grant of $5,000.00 from the […]
- SBTHP and Getty Conservation Institute Continue Information Exchange
- Cate School Volunteers Touch Up Presidio’s Northeast Corner
- Adobe Brick Making at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park
- Northwest Corner Reconstruction Project: Rebuilding a Defense Wall, one brick at a time!
- Pico Adobe Roof Project
Research Center
New Oral History With Julia Forbes Uploaded by Research Center Volunteer Emma Engstrom
Hi everybody! For those of you who don’t know me (which, I’m sure, is just about everyone), I’m Emma, lover of the past. I graduated from UCSB in 2011 with my BA in History and have found that I truly miss life as a student and hope to go back to school to obtain my […]
Santa Inés Mission Mills
When is the Tagging of a Historic Monument more than Graffiti?
by Mike Imwalle When SBTHP purchased the Santa Inés Mission Mills property in from Harry Knill 1994 the organization knew it was getting remarkably well-preserved and thoughtfully restored masonry buildings that formerly housed grist and fulling mills as well as a series of ditches and reservoirs designed to supply them with water power. In addition […]
Then and Now
Clay Tiles, Giant Beets and Adobe Bricks: Reminiscences of an SBTHP Volunteer
This is the first in a new series of blog posts we think you will enjoy called “Then and Now,” where we check in with long-time current volunteers and former interns and volunteers about their work with SBTHP. by Josh Figueroa I started working at the Presidio in the fall of my ninth grade year […]
More Articles
Books! Books! Books for Sale at the Presidio!
by Stephanie Byrd For about the past month, SBTHP’s weekend interpreters have taken on a new role: used book providers. Each weekend at El Presidio SHP, we put out a display of used books along with our craft table, so now there’s a stopping point for both kids and adults! Before, the used book sale was […]
12-12-12- at the Santa Barbara Presidio Chapel
by Jarrell C. Jackman The Spanish colonists in California were nothing if not religious. Almost every day, as far as I can tell, is a feast day for those of the Catholic faith and earlier this month, we celebrated two of them in the Chapel, if to very small crowds. Sometimes it is just […]
A Day to Honor Our Veterans
by Brittany Avila In order to participate in honoring our veterans, SBTHP held its annual Veterans Day Ceremony this past Sunday. The event was touching and unforgettable in many ways. SBTHP was fortunate to have the continued participation of Reseda and Oxnard High Schools’ JROTC groups to perform sabre and rifle drills, in which both […]
“Ideas and Creativity Blossom in Salt Lake City:”An SBTHP staffer’s experience of the 2012 AASLH conference.
by Brittany Avila The American Association of State and Local History conference in Salt Lake City from October 3-7, 2012 was the first conference I’ve attended… EVER… and let me begin by saying how grateful I am that I had this wonderful opportunity. As a new team member of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic […]
Finding Inspiration at the 2012 American Association for State and Local History Conference
The American Association of State and Local History held their Annual conference from October 3-6 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This year, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation was able to send two staff members. Below is a report from Anne Petersen. Brittany Avila’s report will follow in a subsequent post. Conferences always […]
SBTHP’s Social Media Madness!
by Brittany Avila In an effort to spread the beauty that lies within our various sites to a broader range of people in a creative way, SBTHP has added Instagram to our list of social media connections. Through Instagram we can record SBTHP events as well as document artifacts, our buildings, and their various assets […]
Today is our One-Year Blogiversary!
We will get back to our regularly scheduling posting with a new dispatch for you this afternoon, but I just wanted to pop-in here at the blogging desk to say Happy First Blogiversary to Dispatches From the Presidio Neighborhood! We had a great year and look forward to the next. Thank you to all our loyal reader […]
Pico Descendants Visit the Adobe.
A few weeks ago, SBTHP archaeologist Mike Imwalle and I had the pleasure a giving a tour of the Pico Adobe at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park to two sisters, Betty Ramos and Mary Carbajal. Betty and Mary, like their sister Suzi Bellman, are descendants of the Pico family. Their great-grandmother Lucretia […]
School Year and Docent “Year” Draws to a Close
by Karen Schultz Anderson & Meredith Brockriede Thursday, June 7th is the end of the public school year in Santa Barbara, and since docent activity is greatest with school groups, the SBTHP docent “year” is also drawing to a close. SBTHP staff members are so grateful for our docents who have volunteered their services and provided […]
Presidio Pastimes: Celebrating Mexican Culture
On Saturday, May 12, 2012 we celebrated Mexican culture with a day of living history, music and dance at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park. The many great performers and demonstrators helped bring color and excitement to an overcast day in Santa Barbara. It was an event to remember for all in attendance. […]
