Mission Historical Park is a located to the east of the Santa Barbara Mission in Santa Barbara, California. The park hosts a large open grassy area, the A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden, a fountain, hiking trails, a variety of sycamore and native oak trees, a historic olive grove dedicated to World War I veterans, remains of tannery vats, a pottery, gristmill, and a historic reservoir and aqueduct system. The park and the Mission were designated as a California State Historical Landmark on July 12, 1939. The park is divided by Alameda Padré Serra, a major access roadway that has an Average Annual Daily Traffic of about 9,900 vehicles. The perimeter of the park's 8-acre southern area extends from the intersection of East Los Olivos St. and Laguna St. north to Alameda Padré Serra, and east to Plaza del Rubio. The smaller northern 2-acre portion occupies the area between Alameda Padré Serra, and Mountain Drive and Mission Ridge Road at the park's northern terminus.
Park History
Following the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake and post-restoration efforts made to the Santa Barbara Mission, the Franciscan Fathers of California offered to sell a 7.8 acre parcel of land extending from Laguna and East Los Olivos Streets north to Alameda Padré Serra. After securing private contributions, on June 30, 1928 the City Council agreed to purchase the land for $37,000. By 1939, a total sum of $53,068.80 was paid in full. A master plan was approved by the Board of Park Commissioners in 1940. In 1948, the remainder of the land comprising the present day park was gifted to the City by the Franciscan Fathers. In 1954, the City developed a plan indicating a straightened Los Olivos Street through the park. The local citizenry and a number of organizations "vigorously objected" to the proposal. In March of that year, the City Council changed the name of the park from Mission Plaza to Mission Historical Park, which had been suggested by Miss Pearl Chase five years previous. By 1970, the City Park Commissioners once again called for a redesign of the park and surrounding streets.
The A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden
The A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden is an accredited show garden of the All-America Rose Selections. The garden was initiated in 1955 with a donation of 500 pedigree rose bushes. In 1959, the non-profit Santa Barbara Rose Society was established. By 1961 the condition of the rose garden had deteriorated such that the Rose Society requested to sponsor it. In the following years, new bushes were established. In 1971, the Little Garden Club installed a fragrance garden for the blind. By the late 1970s, California Proposition 13 had substantially reduced funding for the Parks Department and thereby eliminated the full-time rose gardener's position. Remaining volunteers were unable to adequately maintain the garden and it hence deteriorated. In 1980, there had been considerations to replace the rose beds with tennis courts. However, in 1982 a committee was formed to save the rose garden. By 1984, the Virginia Firth Wade Endowment Fund donated $35,000 of the $51,000 needed to restore the garden on the condition that it be renamed; the A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden. Today the garden holds over 1,500 plants sits and serves as one of over 130 recognized competitive demonstration rose gardens in the US, hosting a variety of roses including a number of All-America Rose Selections winners. An annual $5,000 grant from the Virginia Firth Wade Endowment Fund assists with the garden's maintenance, which includes; a part-time gardener, watering, grooming, and regular fertilization. The garden is often utilized for wedding ceremonies in two locations; the open grassy section along its western side, or at a smaller area on the northern end of the garden along Plaza del Rubio Street.
The park's grassy area encompasses roughly half of the original southern 8-acre parcel that was sold to the City in 1928. During 1840, a three-acre orchard consisting of pear, apple, apricot, fig and other fruit trees existed about 100-yards in front of the Mission. By the early 1900s, the orchard had diminished considerably. The orchard was surrounded by a six-sided wall reinforced with "heavy buttresses of masonry". A portion of the northern section and eastern corner of the wall were still in place during 1910-20.
Around 1827, a water-powered grist mill and its adjacent reservoir were constructed by the Chumash laborers under the direction of Fr. Antonio Ripoll. The hexagon-shaped sandstone reservoir was paved with bricks and plastered with pink-hued cement. The ruins of the grist mill remain. Signage in the park indicate that water was introduced into the mill via a wooden-gated penstock. A customized clay pipe then allowed for water to flow downward at a 35 degree angle against the buckets of the mill's water wheel, thus causing it to rotate and generate power for the millstones to grind grain into flour. The water then proceeded from the mill to the lower reservoir where it was channeled to irrigate fields, orchards, and the fountain.
Filter House
Abutting the upper reservoir to its north are the ruins of a filter house, which purified water for domestic purposes. The incoming water flowed through a concoction of charcoal and sandstone before it was channeled via an aqueduct to the lower reservoir.
Lower Reservoir
In 1806, a square stone reservoir was constructed as part of an irrigation system providing water for the Mission's orchards and gardens. Originally measuring deep with an area of 110 ft2, the reservoir was capable of holding some 535,000 gallons of water. Located north of Almeda Padre Serra within Mission Park, this reservoir was well-crafted enough to be utilized by the City for water storage until 1993. It was hence transferred from the Public Works Department to the Parks Department to serve as part of Mission Historical Park.
Aqueduct
In 1807, a dam and complementary aqueduct system was constructed in Mission Canyon to supply water to the residents of the Mission. One dam was built across the west fork of Mission Creek, approximately 1.5 miles north of the Santa Barbara Mission. Another was built across the east fork of the creek, located about 3 miles from the Mission. A remaining portion of the lower aqueduct wall still exists north of the grassy area within the park.
The Tannery housed the massive stone vats containing treatment chemicals that were used to convert animal hides into leather. The leather product was used to manufacture horse saddles, footwear, and other leather accessories.
Pottery
The Pottery is located at just north of the intersection of Alameda Padre Serra and East Los Olivos Street. Built in 1808, the facility was where the Chumash workers produced tiles, water pipes, and cooking pottery. In 1914, a portion of the pottery was destroyed in order to construct the Alameda Padre Serra roadway.
