Santa Barbara County Courthouse

	Santa Barbara County Courthouse
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	California Historical Landmark No. 1037
	Santa Barbara County Courthouse, exterior view from the clock tower, showing the Sunken Garden
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Location	Santa Barbara, California
Coordinates	34°25′27.66″N 119°42′8.86″W / 34.4243500°N 119.7024611°WCoordinates: 34°25′27.66″N 119°42′8.86″W / 34.4243500°N 119.7024611°W
Area	4.65 acres (1.88 ha)
Built	1926
Architect	J Wilmer Hershey
NRHP reference No.	81000177
CHISL No.	1037
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	January 23, 1981
Designated NHL	April 5, 2005

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a Spanish Colonial Revival style building designed by ^[4] and completed in 1929. Architect Charles Willard Moore called it the "grandest Spanish Colonial Revival structure ever built," and the prime example of Santa Barbara's adoption of Spanish Colonial as its civic style.^[3]

Located at 1100 Anacapa Street, in downtown Santa Barbara, California. the building replaced a smaller Greek Revival courthouse built there in 1872–88 and badly damaged in an earthquake on June 29, 1925.^[5]^[6] The complex was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005 for its architecture.^[6]

Description[]

Red tile roofs in Santa Barbara. Circular tower at center is the old County Jail.

The courthouse is composed of four buildings, totaling 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²). It includes a Jail Wing, which is no longer used to hold prisoners. Visitors may take elevators to the summit of the 85 ft (26 m) "El Mirador" clock tower, which has labeled photographs that show what the viewer is looking at in all directions.^[4]

Currently, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse is undergoing several restoration projects in the various wings, and just finished restoring the disintegrating fountain in the front.^[5] In the past two years $150,000 was spent in maintenance and improvements.^[7]

Occupying an entire city block, the grounds contain a collection of palms and specimen trees from more than 25 countries.^[5] The courthouse hosts many events, particularly at the Sunken Garden, site of the 1872 courthouse. As of 2015, almost 7,000 visitors from 60 countries came to visit in the past year.^[7]

Façade[]

The main entrance to the courthouse features a large façade depicting two enthroned figures; between the figures is an inscription of a Spanish translation of a quote from Marcus Terentius Varro. The equivalent English translation is found on the right door to the right.

Gallery[]

"Reason is the Life of the Law"
Inscription above the main entrance: "Dios nos dio los campos. El arte humana edificó ciudades." This translates to "God gave us the fields. Human art built cities."
Sunken Garden and clock tower
Interior view of the Mural Room
Main entrance and clock tower
Front view of the courthouse

References[]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
^ "California Historical Landmark: Santa Barbara County". Office of Historic Preservation. California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b NHL Summary Archived November 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b The Historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse Archived July 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Superior Court of California: Santa Barbara County.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Santa Barbara County Courthouse Official Website Archived May 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Santa Barbara County Courthouse. National Historic Landmark nomination. 2004.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Stevens, Kay (7 April 2015). "New Courthouse Docents". Santa Barabara Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

External links[]

The Historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Superior Court of California: Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County Courthouse Official Website
Visiting the Court House
View of the Anacapa Arch at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, Santa Barbara, California, 1929. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Image of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse under construction, Santa Barbara, California. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.

[CHL-2] "California Historical Landmark: Santa Barbara County". Office of Historic Preservation. California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-14.

[nhlsum-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b NHL Summary Archived November 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[sbcourts.org-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b The Historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse Archived July 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Superior Court of California: Santa Barbara County.

[santabarbaracourthouse.org-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Santa Barbara County Courthouse Official Website Archived May 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[nhlnom-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b Santa Barbara County Courthouse. National Historic Landmark nomination. 2004.

[New_Courthouse_Docents-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b Stevens, Kay (7 April 2015). "New Courthouse Docents". Santa Barabara Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

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Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Contents

Description[]

Façade[]

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]