PART III: An Earthquake and a Yeast Magnate
By Lydia Rao
Start at the beginning with Part I.
Santa Barbara entered the “Roaring Twenties” as a burgeoning tourist destination. Parades down West Boulevard ended at Plaza del Mar with speeches and music at the new bandshell, built in 1920. The bandshell still stands today in Pershing Park, and is currently undergoing renovations so that it can once again be a venue for local artists and concerts. During this decade, the Santa Barbara Yacht Club focused on selecting the best location for a harbor. Rigorous tests included dropping bottles and hay bales into the ocean from the cliffs of Hope Ranch, and observing the trajectory of the floating materials with the current. The test results showed that after dredging, the best location would be the salt pond (known today as the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge). Further study revealed that a breakwater at West Beach would cause a consistent shoaling issue, trapping sand that was meant to continue on to beaches to the east and south.
In 1921, the lighthouse lamp was replaced with an electric bulb. The following year, the first oil well was drilled on the Mesa at 601 Flora Vista Drive, kicking off a short but productive oil boom that would be all but depleted by the start of the Second World War. In October 1922, Santa Barbara Yacht Club commodore Earl Ovington (yes, America’s first air mail pilot!), hosted a fete on Santa Cruz Island with the intention of drumming up community support for a harbor. Big names attended, such as James Morton of El Encanto; Frank Smith, president of Stearns Wharf Co.; and sea captains such as Sebastian Larco, Ira Eaton, Salvatore Castagnola, and Frank Nidever. City councilmen and prominent business leaders sailed out to the island on yachts, feasted in Pelican Bay, and then received a presentation on the civic benefits of a harbor. Having outlined the importance of a harbor to the town, now it was up to civic and business leaders to pass that enthusiasm onto their constituents. City leaders returned home having promised to raise funds for a proper survey to determine the correct place for a harbor.
This wave of new enthusiasm was picked up by Leeds and Barnard, consulting engineers from Los Angeles. The engineers drew up several proposals in 1923, again suggesting the salt pond as the logical first choice. Two drafts for Castle Rock were drawn up – one with a short break water, and one longer. That same year a local bond was approved with the salt pond as the selected location, but it missed the necessary vote needed to pass.
Eventually, a Santa Barbara Yacht Club member stepped forward to anonymously provide the funds to build a harbor, on the condition that it be built near Castle Rock and Plaza del Mar. The anonymous donor had a lawyer, Francis Price (of Price, Postell & Parma) approach the city council with a gift of $200,000, if the city would match the offer. The city immediately accepted, but on June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara was struck by an earthquake that would change the landscape forever. Much of the town was leveled, and all harbor progress was halted to focus on rebuilding. The Yacht Club jumped into action, finding the largest sail they could for use as a Red Cross tent, which was set up in De la Guerra Plaza. The club also hosted an “earthquake regatta,” bringing much needed business to town and boosting morale. Some of the trophies incorporated pieces of famous buildings that had crumbled in the earthquake, such as glass from the lighthouse lens, and stone from the mission. These efforts cemented yacht club members as pivotal and influential contributors to the wellbeing of the town. Large swatches of the waterfront were purchased by citizens and set aside for public beautification, essentially providing the foundation for the beautiful shoreline promenade along Cabrillo Boulevard today.
At some point, the mystery donor was revealed to be Major Max Fleischmann, of Fleischmann Yeast fame.
Fleischmann was still interested in his harbor plan, and his lawyer advised him to wire the money to show his commitment and raise morale for the town, which was still recovering from the earthquake in June. The check was delivered in January 1926. But, before any funds could be spent, another huge storm blew through, washing out large sections of Cabrillo Boulevard and the Rincon causeway to the south. Stearns Wharf was closed for repairs, and at the base of the wharf, all that remained of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club was the chimney, on which a sign was hung that read “Santa Barbara needs a breakwater.” It was no surprise that three months later, when a bond vote came up in May to match Fleischmann’s offer, the vote received a resounding 95 percent in favor of moving forward. Before construction could begin, yet another devastating storm hit, which dragged Ira Eaton’s Sea Wolf from her mooring and smashed her against Stearns Wharf, where she sank.
Work started in January 1927 with a 1,200 foot detached breakwater that ran parallel to shore. Boulders were quarried from Santa Cruz Island, selected for their robust volcanic qualities. A total of 250,000 tons were quarried and transported to form the foundation of the breakwater. Barges dropped the boulders in 40 feet of water to form a submerged wall, 130 feet wide at the base. This style of wall, called rip rap, was much cheaper than caissons. While the hope was that the sand would pass right through the channel created now by the breakwater, sand still seeped through the gaps of the stacked boulders and filled the harbor with sandbars. Shoals built up in the harbor with no waves to carry the sand down the coast to the next beach.
In April 1928, while the harbor was under construction, Fleischmann contracted out the construction of his new 233-foot diesel powered yacht to German ship makers Krupp, using a Cox & Stevens design. Only four months later, he decided the breakwater should be longer, providing more funds to extend the breakwater another 600 feet. Fleischmann contributed additional funding the following year so that a 600-foot arm could be built to connect the breakwater to the shore at Point Castillo, or Castle Rock. The final result was a 2,435-foot breakwater with a total cost of $750,000. Santa Barbara finally had a harbor, and it was the first in the nation built without any federal or state funding.
Questions, corrections, or suggestions for the next Curator’s Log? Write to SBMM Collections Manager Lydia Rao at lrao@sbmm.org.
Some sources below for those inclined to read more:
Bookspan, Rochelle, et al. Santa Barbara by the Sea. 1982.
Dana, Richard Henry, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast. Harper & Brothers, 1840.
Everett, William B. Noticias: Santa Barbara Street Transportation. Santa Barbara Historical Museum, 1968.
Everett, William B. and Gary B. Coombs. Mule Car and Trolley: The Story of the Santa Barbara Street Railway.
Institute for American Research, 1984.
Graffy, Neal. Street Names of Santa Barbara. 2008.
Graffy, Neal. Santa Barbara Then and Now. 2012.
Graffy de Garcia, Erin. Noticias: Safe Haven. Santa Barbara Historical Museum, 2010.
O’Neill, Owen H. History of Santa Barbara County, State of California. Harold McLean Meier. 1939
Tompkins, Walker A. Santa Barbara Yesterdays. McNally & Loftin, 1962.
Tompkins, Walker A. Historical High Lights of Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara National Bank, 1970.
Tompkins, Walker A. A Centennial History of Stearns Wharf. Santa Barbara Wharf Company, 1972.
Tompkins, Walker A. Santa Barbara Past and Present. McNally & Loftin, 1975.
Tompkins, Walker A. It Happened in Old Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara National Bank, 1976.