In the heart of historic downtown Santa Barbara, at 136 East De la Guerra, you have reached the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Imagine a voluntary association forming here in October 1932 — the Santa Barbara Historical Society — whose Articles of Association set out to foster research into the history of the city and county, to collect, preserve, and make available historical materials, and to provide for their exhibition. Early on, the Society was offered the “tower” room in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse as exhibition space, and for the first ten years little changed in the character of the group as it collected and catalogued artifacts and documents.
In 1965 the Society built this facility you now face. Inside, the museum features relics from Chumash, Spanish, Mexican, Yankee, and Chinese cultures: artifacts, photographs, furnishings, and textiles that include material dating as far back as the 15th century. Picture the courthouse tower that once housed the exhibitions, and the hands and stories neighbors have brought together under this roof since 1932, out into the historic downtown streets beyond.