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As time passed, electricity replaced gas for illumination and the
demand for acetylene declined, so Union Carbide found other sources of
revenue. Over a hundred years of name changes, incorporations, mergers,
acquisitions, and divestitures have led the company through a variety of
diversifications, which included mining metals and uranium as well as
creating plastics, pesticides, fertilizers, batteries and chemicals.
The Road to Montecito
Born to the manse rather than the manor, George Owen Knapp (1855-
1945) was the son of a Massachusetts minister. He graduated in 1876
with a degree in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
New York, and after a stint as an engineer with the U.S. War Department,
worked a variety of jobs at several utility companies. In 1883, he joined
People’s Gas Light and Coke Company of Chicago where he became chief
engineer and in 1893, president, before forming Union Carbide.
Knapp’s early church-bred upbringing instilled two passions. One was a
conviction that he should share his good fortune with others, and another
was a love of organ music, a passion that he indulged in his many homes
and lodges. The Gospel of Wealth, however, ran neck and neck with the
Gospel of Paul; Knapp lived lavishly, traveled widely, and indulged his
every whim and desire.
In the 1890s, Knapp impulsively rescued Hundred Island House Hotel
and its attendant 3,000 acres near Shelving Rock on Lake George in
upstate New York from the auction block. He formed a sort of feudal
fiefdom by buying up the surrounding farms, hotels, and acreage and
allowing resident families to remain rent free. He offered them work at his
Hundred Island estate at wages well above the norm. As his remote estate
grew larger, five caretaker families were hired to live there year round,
and Knapp established a school for the workers’ children and paid for
the teacher. In 1941, Knapp’s son from his first marriage, William Jared
Knapp, sold the 7,625 acres of the estate, worth four million dollars,
to the State of New York for $200,000 so the land would remain an
Roman poolhouse, outdoor pool and walkway with watercourse leading to lower garden, all
designed by Francis T. Underhill in 1916 (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
undeveloped natural area for all to enjoy.
Knapp and C. K. G. Billings began vacationing in Montecito in 1904.
In 1911 Knapp became entranced with an estate on a hill behind which,
according to a contemporary writer, “soared sudden mountains,” and
below which “lay the graceful curve of lapis waters.” Knapp purchased
Arcady, the estate of Ralph Radcliffe and Jane Byrd Whitehead who had
hoped to inspire the creation of an Arts and Crafts colony in Montecito
but decided the East Coast was more conducive to their aspirations.
Knapp added a tower and several wings to the original house at Arcady
(Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)