Welcome to Santa Barbara Hispanic Family History Exhibit

In 1850, California was granted U.S. statehood, after its annexation from Mexico (1848), following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which marked the end of the Mexican-American War. In 1850, Santa Barbara was a small town of about 1500 residents, largely of Mexican, Chumash and Spanish descent. Founded as a Spanish colonial outpost and centered by its Presidio (1782) and Mission Santa Bárbara (1769), by the mid-1800s the Presidio had been decommissioned and the mission’s property secularized. Californio and Rancho communities remained in El Pueblo Viejo, the former Presidio, and in outlying ranch and agricultural lands. Following statehood, in-migration from the eastern seaboard and Midwest, as well as from Japan and China, brought population growth and new industries to the area, leading to a decline in the Spanish-surnamed population by the end of the century. The Hispanic population only began to grow again in the early 20th century, due to the demands for immigrant labor in agricultural and rail industries, following the passage of Asian exclusion laws. In the 1940s, the Bracero program brought a new wave of Mexican workers to the area. Hispanic communities and businesses grew on Santa Barbara’s east and west sides, and in Goleta, Carpinteria, and Montecito, with cultural bonds forged by periodic fiestas, such as Cinco de Mayo, religious festivals and weddings. The Hispanic community, currently estimated at 48% of the county population, is now a vital economic, social and cultural presence in Santa Barbara and neighboring cities.