The Way It Was
Santa Barbara Roadways
Mountain View Auto Park in 1930 was located where Ralph’s Grocery Store stands today at 2840 De la Vina Street (courtesy John Fritsche)
by Hattie Beresford
(This article is a synthesis and reworking of four different articles published between 2006 and 2012.)
Santa Barbara Auto Camp soon added cottages as well as auto camp spaces on its site at 2717 De la Vina, which was called Hollister Avenue in 1922. Today, as Santa Barbara Trailer Park, it is the last of the 1920s auto camps in Santa Barbara. (courtesy John Fritsche)
I
t started out as a trickle and soon became a flood. Automobiles were pouring through Santa Barbara. The local garages kept track of those who stayed to patronize the hotels, but city officials had their eyes on those who passed on by to camp along the roadsides or in farmers’ fields far outside of town. When city councilman A.W. Dozier returned from an auto tour in 1915, he reported that he had encountered thousands of motor parties and shared camps with hundreds of people from throughout the country. Mindful of the lost business potential of motorists just “passing through,” Dozier recommended that the City designate a piece of land for an auto camp. Campers who stopped in Santa Barbara for the night would “lay in a supply of groceries, take in our theaters, spend a little money, and get an idea of what Santa Barbara really is,” he said. No immediate action was taken on Dozier’s idea, though a young man named James L. Hawkins opened a camp in connection with his auto
Ms Beresford is a retired English and American history teacher of 30 years in the Santa Barbara School District. She is author of two Noticias, “El Mirasol: From Swan to Albatross” and “Santa Barbara Grocers,” for the Santa Barbara Historical Society.
supply station at Cacique and Salinas streets. He put in a grocery store and installed water, telephone, gas and light, and put in sewer connections. In 1919, the City, cognizant that more than 100 motorists a day were bypassing Santa Barbara, finally opened its own camp at Alamar and today’s De la Vina streets. (This part of De la Vina was originally named Hollister. State Street did not extend past Constance and the western part of today’s State Street was also named Hollister.) By 1920, the camp included a central lodge with a shady porch furnished with tables and chairs. Inside, campers could use gas plates for cooking, dishtowels, dishpans, and a large sink.
Ironing boards and irons were available, and there were two laundry tubs, a porcelain bathtub, and several showers. Hot water was supplied from a gas water heater. The City Campground also provided the following: for the children, a large sandbox and swings; for the motorist/mechanic, a pit; for the laundress, facilities for drying clothes; and for the City, potential home buyers. In July 1920, City officials claimed, “Over eighteen thousand dollars worth of real estate has been sold… as a direct result of the Auto Park.” City Campground, located underneath shady oak trees and near Mission Creek, was soon overflowing, so Santa Barbara Auto Camp opened across the street in 1922. (In 2016, Santa Barbara Trailer Park still occupies the site). In 1925, two more auto
camps opened in the immediate area and businesses catering to the autoists proliferated.
Montecito
Hollister Avenue was the western gateway to Santa Barbara, and the eastern gateway lay along the coast highway through Montecito. In 1923, Ida Lietzow capitalized on the auto camp craze that was sweeping the nation and developed Montecito Auto Camp on a strip of land that today houses Olive Mill Plaza. A small store fronted the coast highway (Coast Village Road) and six wood-floored tents descended toward Spring Street (which once lay south of today’s Coast Village Circle.)
WAY IT WAS Page 264
MONTECITO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
A vacancy on the Governing Board of the Montecito Union School District was created on February 19, 2016. The Governing Board will be filling the vacancy by making a provisional appointment until the next election in November 2016. Any person is eligible to be a Governing Board member providing he/she is 18 years of age or older, a resident of the school district, and a registered voter. Interested community members are invited to complete a Board Candidate Information Sheet and submit a cover letter to the Superintendent, Tammy Murphy (385 San Ysidro Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108), indicating their interest and willingness to serve in this significant public capacity. The Board Candidate Information Sheet and cover letter must be accompanied by a personal resume. The application can be found on the Montecito Union School District website at www.montecitou.org or applications are available at the Montecito Union School District Office at 385 San Ysidro Road between 8:00am-4:00pm. The final date for submitting applications is 3 p.m. on April 4, 2016. Candidates will be interviewed individually at a special public meeting of the Board on April 11th 2016, beginning at 4:30 p.m. The person selected will join the Board at their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The person appointed shall hold office until the December 2016 Organizational Meeting. Questions should be directed to Mrs. Murphy at (805) 969-3249 ext. 400.
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S T U A R T F U STUART SS S A MSAMANTHA A N T H AFRIEDMAN FRIEDM A N JANSEN TANNE FUSS TANNER PRINCIPAL, BROKER SENIOR ASSOCIATE SALES ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL, BROKER SENIOR ASSOCIATE SALES ASS stuart@montecitorei.com samantha@montecitorei.com tanner@montecitorei.com stuart@montecitorei.com tanner@mo samantha@montecitorei.com Lic#: 00859105 Lic#: 01873499 Lic#: 01981764
Lic(courtesy #: 00859105 Montecito Trailer Park was established in 1923 on what is today Coast Village Road John Fritsche)
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