From the Archives: Bringing Nature Back to Mission Canyon

By Hannah Barton, Archivist

Since opening its doors in 1926, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has stood as a living example of how care, commitment, and community can transform a landscape, and, in turn, ourselves.

These early photos reveal a highly graded hillside, once overrun with nonnative weeds — a space that would become the foundation for California’s first botanic garden dedicated to native plants. Now, nearly 100 years later, the transformation is still awe inspiring. What was once sparse terrain now flourishes with the biodiversity that defines the Garden’s mission: to conserve native plants for the health and well-being of people and the planet.

Every trail and garden section tells a story of regeneration and resilience, proof that when we nurture nature, nature nurtures us in return. As we approach our centennial, these images remind us how far we’ve come and inspire us to continue cultivating a more vibrant, resilient future for this generation and all the generations to come.

Panoramic view northward, across the future site of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

The original Santa Barbara Botanic Garden site in Mission Canyon, looking south, to entrance boulders and the Blaksley Boulder, circa 1926

This photo highlights what is the present-day Meadow Section and the Meadow oaks (Quercus spp.), circa 1926

Looking north, you can see two entrance boulders and the Blaksley Boulder in the background.