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landmarks
weren’t added to the property until 1874, when an additional twenty-two
acres were obtained by purchase from the Nidever estate. Thus the original
section was called the “Old Cemetery,” while the bluffs became known as the
“New Cemetery.” Additional acreage was also added in 1882, then again in
1889, with the acquisition of small farm parcels that united the old and new
sections into one contiguous cemetery property.
The current boundaries of the Santa Barbara Cemetery are Cabrillo
Boulevard (the curving part that runs along the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge);
Channel Drive; the Pacific Ocean; and
Bellosguardo
, the estate of the
recently deceased Huguette Clark (1906-2011), soon to become her legacy
art museum. The story of the Santa Barbara Cemetery reflects the history
of the area itself, as more land was acquired to accommodate the ever-
expanding needs of the living to provide for the dead. Both the County’s
and the cemetery’s growth and change can be read in the idyllic layout,
filled with tombstones bearing the names of early settlers and civic leaders
who saw or made those changes happen. Even the gravestone styles reflect
those modifications, as do the areas of upright monuments bisected by wide
swaths “paved” with flat markers. Those are the sections where old
carriage roads were filled in to accommodate additional burials.
History in Headstones
With California being part of New Spain, and then the
Republic of México, it was nothing if not Catholic. But as more
Yankee settlers found their way to Santa Barbara, more of them
died here, too. If they were of the Protestant faith, burial options
were limited, and certainly not as attractive as those afforded to
followers of the Roman Catholic persuasion. It was this somewhat
72
winter
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spr ing
Among the thousands of graves are
dozens of historic names still familiar
to anyone in Santa Barbara today –
Fernald, Stearns, Burton, Buell, Storke,
Parshall, Sansum – testament to the
lasting effects of their endeavors.