Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo, or Misión de San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, first built in 1797, is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Located at the mouth of Carmel Valley, California, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
Mission San Buenaventura, formally known as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura, is a Catholic parish and basilica in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The parish church in the city of Ventura, California, United States, is a Spanish mission founded by the Order of Friars Minor. Founded on March 31, 1782, it was the ninth Spanish mission established in Alta California and the last to be established by the head of the Franciscan missions in California, Junípero Serra. Designated a California Historical Landmark, the mission is one of many locally designated landmarks in downtown Ventura.
Mission Santa Cruz is a Spanish Californian mission. Located on Mission Hill, it was founded on August 28, 1791, by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the successor of Father Junipero Serra. The mission was dedicated that same year. The present mission chapel building is a replica located near the original site, on which Holy Cross Church now stands.
Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara, also known as the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, is a former military installation in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Second Military District in California. In modern times, the Presidio serves as a significant tourist attraction, museum and an active archaeological site as part of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park.
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Rancho Camulos, now known as Rancho Camulos Museum, is a ranch located in the Santa Clara River Valley 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of Piru, California and just north of the Santa Clara River, in Ventura County, California. It was the home of Ygnacio del Valle, a Californio alcalde of the Pueblo de Los Angeles in the 19th century and later elected member of the California State Assembly. The ranch was known as the Home of Ramona because it was widely believed to have been the setting of the popular 1884 novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. The novel helped to raise awareness about the Californio lifestyle and romanticized "the mission and rancho era of California history."
The Gaviota Tunnel is a tunnel on U.S. Route 101/State Route 1 (US 101/SR 1) completed in 1953 in the center of Gaviota State Park, 33 miles (53 km) northwest of Santa Barbara, California, on the Gaviota Coast. It is 420 feet (130 m) long and 17.5 feet (5.3 m) tall. Only the northbound lanes of US 101 pass through it, as the southbound lanes descend from Gaviota Pass through a narrow canyon to the west of the tunnel. Because it is the only major route between the Santa Barbara County South Coast and the Santa Ynez Valley, bicycles are allowed through it. There is a rest area for both southbound and northbound lanes on the southern end of the tunnel, the southernmost one along US 101.
The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is a Catholic cathedral located in Monterey, California, United States. The cathedral is the oldest continuously operating parish and the oldest stone building in California. It was built in 1791-94 making it the oldest serving cathedral in the United States, along with St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only existing presidio chapel in California and the only existing building in the original Monterey Presidio.
The San Rafael Wilderness is a wilderness area in the mountains of north central Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is north of the city of Santa Barbara and east of Santa Maria within the Los Padres National Forest. Formed in 1968, it was the first wilderness area to be created from a previously designated Primitive Area after the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. It also includes the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary, created in 1937, which is the oldest designated sanctuary for the large endangered birds.
Sisquoc is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California located east of U.S. Route 101 about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Santa Maria and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Garey. The ZIP Code is 93454, and the community is inside area code 805. Sisquoc has a fire station, a church, a Preschool-8 school and a store. It has a micro-climate with mild weather year-round. The population was 183 at the 2010 census.
The Casa de Estudillo, also known as the Estudillo House, is a historic adobe house in San Diego, California, United States. It was constructed in 1827 by José María Estudillo and his son José Antonio Estudillo, early settlers of San Diego and members of the prominent Estudillo family of California, and was considered one of the finest houses in Mexican California. It is located in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and is designated as both a National and a California Historical Landmark in its own right.
Rancho Suey was a 48,834-acre (197.62 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day southern San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to María Ramona Carrillo de Pacheco. The grant was east of present-day Santa Maria and extended along the San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara County line, and between the Santa Maria River and the Cuyama River.
Rancho Tinaquaic was a 8,875-acre (35.92 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Víctor Pantaleón Linares. Benjamin Foxen who had later purchased the Rancho was the claimant in the 1852 land case. The grant comprised most of what is now known as Foxen Canyon, northeast of Los Alamos.
Rancho Tepusquet was a 8,901-acre (36.02 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day northern Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Tomás Olivera. The grant extended along the Sisquoc River and encompassed present day Sisquoc and Garey, northeast of Los Alamos.
Rancho Sisquoc was a 35,486-acre (143.61 km2) Mexican land grant and current winery in the San Rafael Mountains region of present-day northeastern Santa Barbara County, California.
The Sisquoc Formation is a sedimentary geologic unit widespread in Southern California, both on the coast and in mountains near the coast. Overlying the Monterey Formation, it is of upper Miocene and lower Pliocene age. The formation consists of claystone, mudstone, siltstone, shale, diatomite, and conglomerates, with considerable regional variation, and was deposited in a moderately deep marine environment at a depth of approximately 500–5,000 feet (150–1,520 m). Since some of its diatomites, along with those of the underlying Monterey Formation, are of unusual purity and extent, they can be mined as diatomaceous earth. France-based Imerys operates a mine in the Sisquoc and Monterey Formations in the hills south of Lompoc, California, the largest such operation in the world.
The history of Santa Maria, California, starts with the native Chumash people, who lived there for several thousand years before the Spanish Empire colonized the region in the 18th century. Later, it was a part of the Mexican Empire, California Republic, and finally, the United States. The city was incorporated in 1905, when it had a population of 3,000. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 109,707.
An outgrowth of local camp meetings, Rockville Stone Chapel was constructed in the fall of 1856, in use by Christmas of that year, and dedicated in February 1857. Divisions in the congregation over slavery soon split the congregation, with the Northern faction splitting off at Christmas Eve 1863 to form their own church. Attendance at the chapel slowly declined, with the last resident pastor leaving in 1895. Although services continued sporadically, the building fell into disrepair and, in 1929, the chapel was donated to the County of Solano. With the onset of the Great Depression that year, restoration did not occur for another decade, with the WPA finally accomplishing a full renovation in the spring of 1940. Declared a State Historical Landmark in October 1962, the chapel continues in use today (2019), serving as the sanctuary for the local Church of Christ congregation and also hosting weddings and funerals.
