Skip to main content

El Camino Real Relics in Santa Barbara

Image
By
Back during the first half of December 2013, I had traveled out to California to follow the New York Islanders ice hockey club on a trip where they were playing the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. While I had wanted to take a road trip like this around the Golden State for a number of years, I also wanted to take in a few things that California had to offer. After all, I was a long way from my home in Upstate New York. Being a history buff as well as a road enthusiast and hockey fan, I decided to check out the Old Mission Santa Barbara along my way from Los Angeles to San Jose on US Highway 101. With missions being a part of California's Spanish history, this had to be a win-win. Upon parking at the mission, I had spotted a few other historic relics that I wasn't quite expecting to see at the mission itself.

Historic El Camino Real marker bell.

Historic Auto Club of Southern California road sign.

You may be wondering what the deal with the bell is, especially if you're not quite familiar with California. There were a number of bells that marked the historic route of the El Camino Real, which followed US 101 and other modern roads between Orange County and Sonoma County. There was a Mission Bell Marker system that has existed on the Historic El Camino Real since 1906, with a bell placed one mile apart along the El Camino Real. Modern renditions of the bells can be found along US 101, plus you can even buy your own El Camino Real bell if you have some cash to spare. The bell in at the Old Mission Santa Barbara is an older bell, complete with an old road sign from the Auto Club of Southern California made of porcelain enamel material.

As for that Spanish mission in Santa Barbara I visited, it is now a great museum to check out. Even Junipero Serra himself would agree. I learned a lot and enjoyed my visit.

The exterior of the Old Mission Santa Barbara.

Inside the courtyard inside the mission.

Fr. Junipero Serra statue.


Sources and Links
1. Conejo Valley Guide - The Story Behind Those Historic El Camino Real Bell Markers on the 101 Freeway
2. California Highways - US Highway 101
3. CalTrafficSigns.com - California Highway Signs 
4. Doug Kerr / Flickr - Mission Santa Barbara Photo Gallery
Labels:
Location: 2201 Laguna St, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more