Santa Barbara, city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. A beautiful residential and resort city with many recreational facilities, it also has electronics and aerospace research and development firms, and an orchid industry. Oil fields are in the area and offshore. The region was discovered by Juan Cabrillo in 1542 and explored and named in 1602. A Spanish presidio, remnants of which remain, was founded there in 1782. The Spanish mission (established in 1786; present building completed in 1820) is a major tourist attraction. Santa Barbara is known for its prevalent Spanish architecture. Points of interest include a "street in Spain" shopping area, an undersea aquarium, and many parks and gardens. The Univ. of California at Santa Barbara and Westmont College are just outside the city limits. Santa Barbara is headquarters of the Los Padres National Forest in the Santa Ynez Mts., which rise behind the city. In Feb., 1942, oil tanks in Santa Barbara harbor were the object of a Japanese submarine attack. In Jan., 1969, an oil leak in an offshore drilling platform in the Santa Barbara Channel brought great destruction to the city's harbor and beaches.

Island dependencies, United Kingdom. Located in the English Channel 10–30 mi (16–48 km) off the western coast of France, they cover an area of 75 sq mi (194 sq km) and include the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark and several islets. They are domestically independent of the British government. Structures, including menhirs, are evidence of prehistoric occupation. A part of Normandy in the 10th century AD, the islands came under British rule at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. The islets of Ecrehous and Les Minquiers were disputed between England and France until 1953, when the International Court of Justice confirmed British sovereignty. The dispute revived in the late 20th century because sovereignty determines the rights to the continental shelf's economic development (especially petroleum). The Channel Islands were the only British territory occupied by Germany in World War II. The islands are famous for their cattle breeds, including the Jersey and Guernsey.

Learn more about Channel Islands with a free trial on Britannica.com.

City (pop., 2000: 92,325), southern California, U.S. Located on the Pacific coast, Santa Barbara was named for the patron saint of mariners in 1602, and it became the site of a Spanish military post in 1782. The mission of Santa Barbara was built in 1786; it is the western headquarters of the Franciscan Order and has been in continuous use since its founding. The city developed into a busy port and was incorporated as a city in 1850. After the arrival (1887) of the Southern Pacific Railroad, Santa Barbara became a popular seaside resort. Its economy is bolstered by livestock farms and petroleum production. Its educational institutions include the University of California at Santa Barbara (1891).

Learn more about Santa Barbara with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Mission Santa Barbara, also known as Santa Barbara Mission, is a Spanish Franciscan mission near present day Santa Barbara, California. It was founded December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, to evangelize the local Chumash (Canaliño) tribe. The Mission grounds occupy a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Father Presidente Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since the day of its founding.

History

Mission Santa Barbara's name comes from the legend of Saint Barbara, a girl who was supposedly beheaded by her father for following the Christian Faith. The early missionaries built three different chapels during the first few years, each larger than the previous one. It was only after the great Santa Barbara Earthquake on December 21, 1812, which destroyed the existing buildings, that the construction on the current Mission was begun. It was completed and then dedicated in 1820. The towers were considerably damaged in the June 29, 1925 earthquake, but were subsequently rebuilt in 1927. The appearance of the inside of the church has not been altered significantly since 1820.

Many elements of the Mission's extensive water treatment system, all built by Chumash Indian labor (including aqueducts, two reservoirs, and a filter house) remain to this day, as does a grain mill; the larger reservoir, which was built in 1806 by the expedient of damming a canyon, has been incorporated into the City's water system. The original fountain and lavadero are also intact near the entrance to the Mission. A dam constructed in 1807 is situated in the current Santa Barbara Botanic Garden up "Mission Canyon." The Mission's tanning vats, pottery kiln, and guard house are all in ruins to this day.

In 1818, two Argentine ships under the command of the French privateer Hipólito Bouchard approached the coast and threatened the young town of Santa Barbara. The padres armed and trained 150 of the neophytes to prepare for attack. With their help, the Presidio soldiers confronted Bouchard, who sailed out of the harbor without attacking.

After the Mexican Congress passed An Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California on August 17, 1833 Father Presidente Narciso Durán transferred the missions' headquarters to Santa Barbara, thereby making Mission Santa Barbara the repository of some 3,000 original documents that had been scattered through the California missions. The Mission archive is the oldest library in the State of California that still remains in the hands of its founders, the Franciscans. Beginning with the writings of Hubert Howe Bancroft, the library has served as a center for historical study of the missions for more than a century.

In 1840, Alta California and Baja California were removed from the Diocese of Sonora to form the Diocese of Both Californias. Bishop Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, OFM, established his cathedra at Mission Santa Barbara, making the chapel the pro-cathedral of the diocese until 1849. Under Bishop Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, C.M., the chapel again served as a pro-cathedral, for the Diocese of Monterey and then the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, from 1853–1876. It is for this reason that of all the California missions, only the chapel at Mission Santa Barbara has two matching bell towers. At that time, that particular architectural feature was restricted to a cathedral church.

When President Abraham Lincoln restored the missions to the Catholic church on March 18, 1865, the Mission's leader at the time, Friar José González Rubio, came into conflict with Bishop Amat over the matter of whether the Mission should be under the ownership of the Franciscan order rather than the diocese. Bishop Amat refused to give the deed for the Mission to the Franciscans, but in 1925, Bishop John J. Cantwell finally awarded the deed to them.

The Mission also has the oldest unbroken tradition of choral singing among the California Missions and, indeed, of any California institution. The weekly Catholic liturgy is serviced by two choirs, the California Mission Schola and the Cappella Barbara. The Mission archives contain one of the richest collections of colonial Franciscan music manuscripts known today, which remain closely-guarded (most have not yet been subjected to scholarly analysis). The original City of Santa Barbara developed between the Mission proper and the harbor, specifically near El Presidio Reál de Santa Bárbara (the "Royal Spanish Presidio"), about a mile southeast of the Mission. As the city grew, it extended throughout the coastal plain; a residential area now surrounds the Mission, although there are public parks and a few public buildings (such as the Natural History Museum) in the area immediately adjacent to the site.

Present-day situation

Mission Santa Barbara today continues to serve the community as a parish church. In addition to its use as a place of worship, it contains a gift shop, a museum, a Franciscan Friary, and a retreat house. The Mission grounds are a primary tourist attraction in Santa Barbara. The Mission itself is owned by the Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara, and the local parish rents the church from the Franciscans.

Notes

References

• Forbes, Alexander (1839). California: A History of Upper and Lower California. Smith, Elder and Co., Cornhill, London.
• Jones, Terry L. and Kathryn A. Klar (eds.) (2007). California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity. Altimira Press, Landham, MD. ISBN 0-759-10872-2.
• Krell, Dorothy (ed.) (1979). The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Sunset Publishing Corporation, Menlo Park, CA. ISBN 0-376-05172-8.
• Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.
• Paddison, Joshua (ed.) (1999). A World Transformed: Firsthand Accounts of California Before the Gold Rush. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA. ISBN 1-890771-13-9.
• Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. ISBN 0-932653-30-8.
• Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
• Hispanic Catholicism in transitional California: the life of José González Rubio, O.F.M. (1804-1875), by Michael Charles Neri, published 1997 by the Academy of American Franciscan History (v.14, history monograph series).

See also

• USNS Mission Santa Barbara (AO-131) — a Mission Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.
• History of Santa Barbara, California

External links

• Old Mission Santa Barbara - Official Site
• Elevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper
• 1925 earthquake damages to the Mission
• Early photographs, sketches, land surveys of Mission Santa Barbara, via Calisphere, California Digital Library
• Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary