Old Mission Santa Barbara

1786

Founded in 1786 as the tenth mission of what became 21 in Alta California

Padre Fermín Lasuén founded Mission Santa Barbara for the Franciscan order on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara. Often called the Queen of the Missions, it was the tenth of what would become 21 missions in Alta California.

Four chapels

Three chapels came before the church that stands today

The first chapel, in 1787, was a palisaded log structure with a grass roof. The second, in 1789, was adobe. A third, built in 1793, was destroyed by the 1812 earthquake. The fourth structure was begun by 1815 and mostly completed by 1820.

39 ftlength of the first log chapel, built in 1787

Rebuilt

Towers damaged in 1925 were rebuilt, and the interior is as it was in 1820

The towers were severely damaged in the June 29, 1925, earthquake, but the buttresses held the walls intact. Between 1950 and 1953 the facade and towers were demolished and rebuilt to duplicate their original form. The interior has not been altered significantly since 1820.

The water

A reservoir built in 1806 stayed in the city's water system until 1993

Ruins in the neighboring Mission Historical Park include tanning vats, a pottery kiln and a guard house, with a water system of aqueducts, a filtration system, two reservoirs and a gristmill. The larger reservoir was built in 1806 by damming Mission Canyon.

The Chumash

The Chumash population fell from 1,792 and rose against the mission in 1824

In 1803, 1,792 Chumash lived as neophytes in 234 adobe huts around the mission. By 1820 the population had declined to 1,132 and then dropped to 962 three years later. In 1824, under Andrés Sagimomatsee, the Chumash briefly seized the mission.

1,792Chumash living at the mission in 1803, the highest in one year