According to the General Plan, Santa Barbara has had ten major historical periods. Over the next few months, Santa Barbara View will post the History of the City…
Design Review Origins (1902 – 1925)
Like many communities throughout the country, Santa Barbara became interested in city improvement and beautification. In March of 1902, the City Council appointed the first Board of Park Commissioners. Within two years, the Board added two important parks (Oak Park and East Beach Park, now known as Chase Palm Park) to the city’s park system. In Oak Park more than 100 oak trees and other species were planted to give the park its natural, arcadian setting. Because of continued tree planting and maintenance throughout the city, Santa Barbara was officially designated a “Tree City USA” in 1980. It has retained that designation ever since. During this time period (and through at least 1931), various civic organizations purchased much of the Santa Barbara waterfront with the intention of assuring that it would be preserved in perpetuity for public use.
By the turn of the 20th Century, Santa Barbara had become a well-established destination for people from the Midwest and the East trying to escape the harsh winter months. In 1902, the 600-room Potter Hotel was constructed near West Beach. In 1911, this was followed by the completion of the equally grand new Mission Revival-style Arlington Hotel on State Street at Victoria which covered an entire city block. Both hotels were subsequently destroyed, the Potter by fire in 1921 and the Arlington, demolished in 1926 because of extensive damage from the 1925 earthquake.
In 1901, the long-awaited railroad link to San Francisco was completed. In 1905 a new Mission Revival-style train station was opened to travelers. During this time, the City’s streetcar system was expanded with lines running from the beach to the Mission, and in 1913, up to the State Normal School campus located on the Riviera. At that time, the Riviera Development Company bought about 300 acres of land on Mission Ridge and built the roads, sandstone retaining walls, underground utilities, and planted hundreds of oak trees. This was one of the first subdivisions designed to have a cohesive visual appearance both in its landscaping and layout. Additionally, there were architectural standards requiring that lot owners build “Riviera style” houses featuring white stucco walls with red tile roofs and costing at least $4,000, a significant amount for the time.

Santa Barbara’s Pearl
Shortly after the conclusion of World War I, Santa Barbara began to revamp its visual and cultural image. The nationally recognized architect Bertram G. Goodhue was hired to plan a new commercial streetscape (unbuilt) of Hispanic design. It was in the 1920’s that the idea of protecting and furthering the city’s Hispanic heritage was enthusiastically embraced. Civic leaders Bernhard Hoffmann and Pearl Chase of the Plans and Planting Committee, formed in 1922 as part of the Community Arts Association formed in 1919, were the driving force behind the movement to return Santa Barbara to its roots as a city reflecting its Hispanic heritage.
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