New Spain at Santa Barbara

El Presidio and Chapel

While held up in Santa Barbara waiting for the weather to clear, we were able to visit some of the local historic sites and points of interest. Today we visited El Presidio and Casa de la Guerra. Founded April 21, 1782, the Santa Barbara Presidio was the last of four Royal Presidios (Spanish military outposts) built in Alta California.

Presidio Chapel Interior

The first Commandant was Jose Francisco Ortega, who planned the fortifications and irrigation works. He also obtained livestock for the presidio, established orchards, and began large-scale farming. A field of wheat was planted by the Chumash Indians under Chief Yanonalit. The town (pueblo) of Santa Barbara developed around the Presidio as it offered protection for the residents and also housed a chapel of worship.

El Cuartel Adobe

During its sixty years of operation, the Presidio was never attacked by a strong military force; however, it was subject to the assaults of nature including earthquakes. Only two portions of the original presidio quadrangle survive to this day: the Canedo Adobe and El Cuartel (both built 1788) are the oldest buildings in Santa Barbara and the second oldest standing adobe structures in the State of California.

Large Adobe Bricks over a Stone Foundation

Other portions of the Presidio have been reconstructed over their original foundations. On-going archaeological digs have unearthed a communal cooking area along with pottery and utensils, a 19-foot deep well, and segments of the original outer defense wall. The first defense wall was completed in 1789. The wall was over nine and a half feet high and four feet thick. It had four layers of large cobblestones below the ground, and another layer above ground. The adobe bricks were mortared in place on top of the foundation and painted with lime wash to protect the adobe from erosion. Each adobe brick measured 11” x 22” x 4” and weighed over forty pounds.

Presidio Orchard

It took five years for the Presidio soldiers, along with hired Chumash Indian laborers, plus sailors from supply ships and convicts sent to Alta California to make all of the adobe bricks and complete the construction including walls and buildings.

Also located in town is The Casa de la Guerra, constructed in the 1820’s by a later Commandant of the Presidio, Jose de la Guerra. During his lifetime, the Casa was the economic, political, and social center of the pueblo of Santa Barbara.

Casa de la Guerra

Built during a time when the average residence was a one-room adobe, the house set the pattern for adobe construction during later, more affluent times. Remodeled from time to time to fit changing family needs, it also reflected the changing aesthetic tastes of the community. Among Santa Barbara’s wealthiest and most influential citizens, Jose Guerra stood out as the patriarchal figure. His legacy survived through the political activity of his son Pablo during the early years of U.S. statehood and with his daughters, Herminia and Delfina, in the fiesta celebrations that took place around the Casa. Today, Santa Barbara keeps the fiesta tradition alive by celebrating “Old Spanish Days Fiesta” every year around the first week of August.