Santa Barbara Historical Museum facts for kids
The Historic Adobe (1836)
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| Established | 1932 |
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| Location | 136 E. De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California, 93101 |
| Visitors | 40 thousand annually (2009-2010)
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The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is a cool place in Santa Barbara, California, U.S.. It shows off amazing items from different cultures. You can see things from the Chumash people, and from Spanish, Mexican, American (Yankee), and Chinese times.
The museum has old tools, photographs, furniture, and clothes. Some of these items are super old, going back to the 1400s! The museum building itself was built in 1965. It is right in the middle of historic downtown Santa Barbara.
Contents
How the Museum Started
In October 1932, a group of people in Santa Barbara decided to create something new. They wanted to learn about and save the history of their city and county. Their goals were to:
- Study Santa Barbara's past.
- Collect and protect old items and papers.
- Show these items to everyone.
This new group was called the Santa Barbara Historical Society.
Soon after they started, the Society got a special room. It was in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse tower. Here, they began to collect, organize, and store old items and documents. For the first ten years, the Society mostly focused on collecting.
In 1942, more people joined the Society. They started having different types of memberships and collecting dues. This helped the group grow a lot. They also got many more items for their collections. The next year, in 1943, the Society officially became a non-profit organization in California.
Finding a Home
As more people joined, the Society did more things. In 1947, they published their first book. It was about trade with China in early California. The Society needed a bigger space than the courthouse tower room.
A kind lady named Katherine Bagg Hastings offered her home. It was called the Trussell-Winchester Adobe. This house was built in 1854. Mrs. Hastings arranged for the house to go to the Society after she passed away. This happened in 1955.
The search for a permanent home continued through the 1950s. The Society even used part of the Santa Barbara Mission for a while. They had their first exhibit there in May 1954. The Society stayed at the Old Mission for eleven years.
Big Changes in the 1950s and 1960s
In April 1955, the Society started publishing a journal called Noticias. This magazine is all about the Santa Barbara area. It is still published today!
In 1959, the Society saved another important building. It was the Judge Charles Fernald Mansion. This large house was built by a famous person from the late 1800s. It was going to be torn down! The Society raised money to buy the house. They moved it next to the Trussell-Winchester Adobe. After a lot of work to fix it up, the Fernald House opened in 1962. It became a museum showing how people lived long ago.
A Permanent Museum Building
The dream of a permanent home for the Society came true in 1965. A new museum building opened on February 28, 1965. In 1961, Santa Barbara County gave the Society land downtown for 99 years. They started raising money to build a museum.
In 1963, construction began on the adobe museum building. It was a huge space with areas for exhibits, offices, and storing collections. In 1964, the Society also got two more historic adobe buildings next to the museum. These were the Covarrubias Adobe (built in 1817) and the Historic Adobe (around 1836). The Covarrubias Adobe is now used for talks and meetings.
Another important event in the 1960s was the opening of the Gledhill Library in 1967. It was named after W. Edwin Gledhill and his wife Andriette. They worked for many years to help the museum grow.
Growing and Improving
In 1981, the Society started an oral history program. This means they record interviews with people who share their memories of Santa Barbara. They have recorded over 500 interviews!
The museum kept improving in the 2000s. They spent a lot of money to upgrade the museum building. This included a new air system to protect the old items. They also completely redesigned the exhibit areas. A main exhibit called "The Story of Santa Barbara" opened. It shows over 450 years of Santa Barbara's history.
The museum also worked on expanding its buildings. In March 2007, they started upgrading the storage areas for their collections. This helps keep all the old items safe. In 2017, the museum added a new part called the Edward Borein Gallery.
