All News
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 [...]
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. [...]
Flat SHPO Celebrates Preservation Month at El Presidio SHP!
May is National Preservation Month, a time to celebrate our cherished historic places. Here in California, our Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) has created several fun activities that anyone can participate in. We particularly like this creative project, called Flat SHPO. Based on the children’s educational tool Flat Stanley, the OHP created a flattened version [...]
A Taste of the Presidio Gardens
Last evening we held a very special event in celebration of the Presidio Gardens. Several wonderful volunteers and staff took our guests through the garden and pointed out the many plants that are blooming and fruiting this spring, including the first tiny buds that will develop into grapes on our Mission San Gabriel grape vine, [...]
It’s Spring in the Presidio Gardens!
We are Kiara, Aiyanna, and Zinnia, students from The Anacapa School, and the current garden interns here at the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP). We’ve had this internship for about 3 months now. During our time here we’ve been tending to the wheat that was planted in late October of last year. Our [...]
Photos of Founding Day and Early California Day, for your enjoyment!
On Friday April 20, 2012, SBTHP welcomed 200 local third and fourth graders to El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park for a day of living history demonstrations focusing on early California. You’ll find a sample of images from that day below. Click here to see more on our Flickr page! We can’t get [...]
I-Spy Something More than Meets the Eye
by Amanda Gonzalez When I see the Casa de la Guerra, I spy something more than meets the eye. What do you see? Interpretive activities offer creative approaches to engage children in historical subjects. At the El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park we offer free craft activities that teach about life at the [...]
Recent Research Leads to Re-analysis of Rare Religious Medal
by Michael Imwalle, Robert Hoover, and Anne Petersen In 1994, a small religious medal was recovered from the Northwest Corner of the Santa Barbara Presidio quadrangle during the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Archaeological Field School. Dr. Robert Hoover directed the excavation, which was intended to identify the location of the bastion on the Presidio’s [...]
Northwest Corner Reconstruction Project: The Presidio Defense Wall takes on a new look!
by Mike Imwalle In January of this year I reported that Channel Coast Corporation and David Tait Masonry completed laying the adobe bricks for a 60-foot section of the Northwest Corner defense wall. Once the bricks were laid to form the concrete bond beam at the top of the wall, it was Modern Concrete’s turn [...]
A visit from some wonderful new friends, including de la Guerra descendant Wendy Lehman
We recently had the pleasure of hosting a tour of Casa de la Guerra for a wonderful group of women who were visiting the historic property for the first time. SBTHP Life Honorary Director and former mayor Sheila Lodge helped us get in touch with de la Guerra descendant Wendy Lehman and her friend Beatrix [...]
