Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
ph (805) 965-0093
fax (805) 568-1999
PO Box 388,
Santa Barbara,
CA 93102

To preserve, restore, reconstruct and interpret historic sites in Santa Barbara County.

Our Vision

To bring alive the history of Santa Barbara for present and future generations.

The Santa Barbara Presidio, established by the Spanish from Mexico in 1782, lies at the very center of the Santa Barbara we know today. Within the city blocks of the properties that the Trust for Historic Preservation owns and manages lived many generations of Santa Barbarans, a rich cultural mix of Chumash, Spanish, Mexican, Euro-American, Chinese and Japanese settlers. The Santa Inés Mission Mills are rare relics of the industrial operations carried on at some of the California missions by Chumash neophytes and Spanish padres. The Trust aims to tell the stories of these Santa Barbara residents to convey how cultures blend and borrow from each other as people adapt to changing situations.

• The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation engages in archaeological and historical research and publication to expand knowledge about Santa Barbara's history. It works closely with California Department of Parks and Recreation, the City of Santa Barbara, the County of Santa Barbara and various cultural and educational constituencies,
  
• The Trust works to attract and inform a broad audience through its restoration projects, exhibits, living history demonstrations, public events and lectures, and public school programs.

Three to Five Year Goals

• Develop and begin to implement a comprehensive interpretive plan that includes all the Trust and State Park sites.
  
• Develop and implement research and education programs for Trust undertakings.
  
• Increase funding from private sources.
  
• Develop staff in line with he expansion of Trust and State properties and projects.
  
• Complete Presidio Northwest Corner construction, northern outer perimeter wall, and restoration of the Canedo Adobe.
  
• Rehabilitate the Alhecama Theatre and create a pedestrian plaza at the site.
  
• Develop and operate Santa Inés Mission Mills State Historic Park in cooperation with the State Department of Parks and Recreation.
  
• Incorporate Jimmy's Oriental Gardens into El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park.

A Brief History

Trust founder and community activist Pearl Chase.

Founded in 1963 by Dr. Pearl Chase and other concerned community leaders, the Trust is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization and the primary force in the reconstruction and preservation of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park—Santa Barbara's 18th century birthplace—and the Casa de la Guerra—the 1820s home of Santa Barbara patriarch José de la Guerra. Today the Casa is an historic house museum featuring original furnishings and temporary exhibitions. The Trust also owns the Santa Inés Mission Mills in Solvang, California—two 1820s fulling and grist mills which are part of a National Historic Landmark District and the site of a future California State Park. With the help of continuing education activities and exhibits, the Trust strives to encourage community involvement and foster an appreciation for Santa Barbara’s distinct history.

Since its founding, the primary long-range goal of the Trust has been the reconstruction of El Presidio de Santa Barbara, the eighteenth-century Spanish colonial fort that is Santa Barbara's birthplace. About the size of a city block in the center of Santa Barbara’s vibrant downtown district, its singular location gives the Presidio an important opportunity as a living history site to interpret the city’s Hispanic heritage for students, the local community, and visitors from around the country and all over the world.

In 1966, the Trust pioneered a unique strategy for private-public partnership to develop the Presidio as a state historic park. Only two parts of the original fort remained; the rest of the site lay under buildings constructed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As it acquired each of these properties over the years, the Trust deeded them to the State of California. An enabling law passed by the State Legislature grants the Trust the privilege of reconstruction, and allows it to operate the site on behalf of the State Parks and Recreation Department. The Trust raises private funds to acquire and develop the property, working closely with state, county and city agencies. The State gives the Trust the rental income from the properties to help support its operations. 

In gradual phases since the 1980s, the Trust has reconstructed the northern quadrant of the Presidio, following exhaustive archaeological and documentary research. The outgrowth of this research has led to the formation of the Presidio Archaeology Lab, which curates the tens of thousands of artifacts excavated from the site, and the Presidio Research Center, which houses the thousands of books, journals, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and blueprints that have been collected over the years to support the Trust’s preservation and reconstruction work. Our curatorial collection includes several hundred objects that span the years from the Spanish colonial period to the present, recording and reflecting the many facets of our history. Many of these objects are on display throughout the Presidio.

Since its founding, the Trust has evolved from an all-volunteer organization to having seven full time and fourteen part-time professional and support staff. In addition, one hundred forty individuals volunteer for everything from docenting to processing bulk mail to making adobe bricks for use in reconstruction. Other historic properties that we own, restore, preserve and interpret to the public include the Casa de la Guerra (1828) and Rochin Adobe (1857), both in downtown Santa Barbara; and the Mission Santa Inés mills complex (1818-21) in Santa Barbara County.

The Trust has active programs in exhibits, education, research and publication. While permanent exhibits at the Presidio and Casa de la Guerra have focused on the Spanish colonial period, temporary exhibits reflect such later historical topics as the Japanese American community in the Presidio neighborhood until World War II internment. This community-based, temporary exhibit program provides the opportunity to collaborate with local organizations. Following California public school curricula, our educational program offers age-appropriate activities and tours for students from second through sixth grades, with special emphasis on fourth-grade California history classes; older students participate in our junior docent program. Living history, craft demonstrations and other special events focus on families. An evening lecture series includes both scholarly and popular interpretations of our past. Off site, slide presentations are offered at area retirement facilities, enabling our docents to deliver enrichment programs to seniors who are not readily able to visit the Presidio. In cooperation with the University of California, Santa Barbara and other local colleges, the Trust supports internships in museum collections management, archives, and archaeology; undergraduate and graduate history research seminars; and symposia. As a result of ongoing research, the Trust has published numerous archaeological reports, as well as seven books about California history geared toward a general readership.