During the war between Mexico and the United States, Captain John Charles Fremont of the U.S. Army arrived in Santa Barbara on a rainy Christmas Eve in 1846 to claim the area for his country. California became a state in 1850, and a new and dynamic era was underway.

Fueled by "gold fever," cattle prices rose from $2 per head to $35 when driven north to feed those in the gold fields. This continued until the 1860s, when a drought killed off most of the cattle in Southern California.

Lotusland, home and exotic gardens of European opera diva Mme. Ganna Walska, is depicted in a 1920s tinted photograph.

Stagecoach service to the north began over the San Marcos Pass in the 1860s on a precarious road (made even more dangerous by highwaymen) carved out by Chinese laborers. Southbound stage drivers had to be familiar with the local tides, since the 30-hour-plus trip to Los Angeles required navigating around Rincon Point at low tide.

Earlier, steamboats carrying goldseekers from Panama to San Francisco would stop frequently at Santa Barbara. Since there was no wharf, lumber and cargo sometimes were thrown overboard to float ashore, and passengers had to be carried on the shoulders of sailors or rowed to shore. With the backing of local rancher Col. William Hollister, Stearn's Wharf was completed in 1872, making arrival in Santa Barbara considerably easier.

Soon after, a rush of Eastern healthseekers discovered the salubrious climate of the area. Lodging could be found at Amasa Lincoln's Boarding House, now called the Upham Hotel (Santa Barbara's oldest hotel, it has been in continuous use since 1871) and the popular Arlington Hotel, which opened in 1875. Still, there were few amenities in Santa Barbara to be enjoyed by visitors.

A welcome whistle was heard in 1887 when the railroad extended service to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles, but the tracks stopped here for another 14 years while construction to the north was completed. The railroad connecting Santa Barbara with San Francisco was completed in 1901. The Potter Hotel opened in 1903, establishing Santa Barbara as a major American beach resort, attracting such glitterati as the Rockefellers, DuPonts, Peabodys, Fleishmanns, Carnegies and Swifts. All parked their private railroad cars at the new depot and enjoyed the "good life" - golf, polo and boating - available for $3 a day at the Potter.

America's rich and famous bought property in adjacent Montecito and built baronial estates with exotic plants from around the world for their gardens. Today, visitors may tour several of these grand estates to glimpse Santa Barbara's "gilded age',: Casa del Herrero, designed by local architect George Washington Smith with later additions by Lutah Maria Riggs and Joseph Plunkett; opera diva Ganna Walska's Lotusland; and Val Verde (to open soon).

Despite the fact that downtown Santa Barbara looked like many other small American towns early in the 20th century, greater change was in motion. Aviation pioneers, the Loughhead (Lockheed) brothers had their first factory in Santa Barbara, and John R. Northrup, who grew up in the city, worked for them there.

The far end of the Casa del Herrero's garden axis.

Long before there was a Hollywood, the movie industry brought silent film celebrities to the area, when the major Flying A film company began shooting in Santa Barbara in 1912. Then, some residents who visited San Diego's Panama-California Exposition in 1915 decided that the Spanish Colonial architectural style, showcased there in Balboa Park, should be encouraged in Santa Barbara. The new city hall, the Santa Barbara Daily News building, the Biltmore Hotel, and the new Lobero Theater, which was designed by George Washington Smith, were some of the first projects exhibiting this new Spanish Colonial style.

On the morning of June 29, 1925, a devastating earthquake struck, and damage to older buildings was severe. City planners began to enact regulations which would eventually produce the red-tile and white-stucco "Santa Barbara Look" we admire today. One of the most notable landmarks to be created after the earthquake was the new Santa Barbara County Courthouse, a masterpiece of architectural design created in 1929 by San Francisco architect William Mooser.

During the ensuing Depression years, Santa Barbara builders (many of whom were newly-arrived Italian stone masons) were kept busy building homes for the growing population, in addition to bridges, churches and WPA projects, such as the Los Banos public pool near the marina and a new post office to replace the one which is now the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

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