Santa Barbara’s Best-Kept Museum Secrets
By Don Sonderling
Santa Barbara County boasts
an abundance of small, fascinating museums
you may have never heard of.
Let’s take a look at some of these
“off the beaten track” museums.
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, simply put, is a must-visit! Put aside any pre-conception of the definition of “museum” — this small (two-room) building, on a side street in downtown Santa Barbara, will boggle the mind. This is a museum full of stories of humankind, going back to approximately 2,000 B.C. This private collection, accumulated over the years by David and Marsha Karpeles, preserves more than a million historical documents, which are narratives of literature, science, religion, political history, the arts, and the world’s development.
David was a mathematician and tech developer who began collecting historical documents in 1978. His wife, Marsha, has been deeply involved in numerous philanthropic organizations. They wanted to preserve and protect historical documents to share with others. Of the eight Karpeles Museums throughout the country, Santa Barbara is the undisputed gem. Parts of the exhibit rotate quarterly, so you will always have a surprise and new adventure on every visit.
These are original manuscripts and documents that have changed the course of human history. Below is a small list of what is currently on display in Santa Barbara: the world’s first known Peace Treaty (providing the first-known written record of the concept of freedom and equality), dated 2,404 B.C.; first printing of the 10 Commandments (in the Gutenberg Bible, 1455); a handwritten letter by Christopher Columbus; the Theory of Relativity, with the handwritten formula E=MC2 by Albert Einstein; a cover letter to the Declaration of Independence sent to King George; the unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich; documents of the first U.S. Space Mission; a handwritten page of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin; handwritten musical scores by Stravinsky, Beethoven, Puccini, Franz Liszt, Bach, in addition to other composers; a 1638 letter by Galileo; and so, so much more.
The Karpeles Library Manuscript Museum may well be one of the smallest, most important, and fascinating museums you will ever visit. What stories are told through this collection of original manuscripts, documents, and artifacts, preserving and sharing history for today’s and future generations.
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is located at 21 W Anapamu St, Santa Barbara. For more:
karpeles.com
A good way to begin to understand Santa Barbara itself is to explore the area’s relationship to the sea. Without Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, the town and area would probably never have developed as it has. You may say that Stearns Wharf itself is an open-air museum, and the beginning of today’s Santa Barbara.
Built in 1872, this was then the longest deepwater wharf between San Pedro and San Francisco. It opened up previously isolated Santa Barbara to shipping, commerce, and especially lumber, which was needed to help build the railroad. Suddenly, Santa Barbara began to thrive.
Over the last 153 years, the wharf has been the site of several tragedies, including a Chinese junk crashing into it during a storm in 1878, destroying 1,000 feet of the waterfront structure. There have been devastating fires and storms throughout the wharf’s history, including the first-ever tornado in Santa Barbara which struck not too long after the 1878 Chinese junk crash. But in spite of it all, Stearns Wharf has survived, making it the oldest working wooden wharf in California. Although commerce has changed, Stearns Wharf today attracts tourists and locals alike, with its shops, restaurants, and the Sea Center, built on a part of the original wye track (where a railroad spur was built to transfer lumber).
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center is fascinating for folks of any age. You’ll want to take your time on the self-guided tour as the staff and volunteer naturalists explain many of the mysteries of the sea, and specifically, the Santa Barbara Channel beneath your feet.
First, you’ll come to the Shark Cove touch pool. It’s OK to touch the swell sharks that are lounging on the bottom, they won’t bite you. You’ll see an array of sea life, including sting rays, that are literally in the ocean below. Be sure to ask the naturalists about the “shark nursery” that is right behind you. Fascinating!
Then, enjoy the Life in the Surge display, where you’ll see a variety of fish, as well as lobsters, and watch how they react to the wave that is programmed to come through every few minutes. There is also the Intertidal Wonders touch tank, where you can touch an assortment of starfish, abalone, anemones, sea urchins, and more. Again, remember that what you’re touching is also happening in the ocean just beneath your feet!
Making your way into the next room, you’ll find The Wet Deck, the research area of the facility. This is just too cool! There is a large hole in the deck (safely guarded by a railing) that exposes the ocean below. Attached to the railing are ropes with buckets that collect ocean life and ocean floor samples.
Go on, pull up one of the ropes, and see what it contains! The staff will then help you observe and identify what you have found, which will then be returned to the ocean. There’s no telling what you may pull up from the ocean bottom:
An octopus? A crab?
Once done exploring downstairs, head upstairs and continue immersing yourself in the various displays highlighting local species or showcasing specific habitats found in the area.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center is located at 211 Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara. For more: sbnature.org/visit/sea-center
Next, sticking with the marine theme, you may want to get on the Little Toot and take a short boat ride from Stearns Wharf across to the harbor to visit the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Here you’ll find exhibits, photos, a wheelhouse where you can pilot a ship, and a periscope where you get the feeling of being in a submarine while surveying the harbor surrounding you.
As you enter the Maritime Museum, the first thing you will see is a figurehead that once adorned the bow of a sailing ship. Then, check out the original deep-sea diving “Jim Suit” that was used in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. This is where your self-guided tour
will begin — learning that Santa
Barbara is the country’s birthplace of deep-sea diving!
The museum visually and interactively narrates the 13,000-year human history of the Santa Barbara Channel and sea area. There is a Chumash Native American display, featuring a replica of a Chumash tomol plank-built canoe. These were used for travel and fishing along the Santa Barbara shore, out to the Channel Islands and around the channel.
While here, you’ll also learn the role that the Santa Barbara Channel has played in maritime and California history. Exhibits that you will be able to explore, touch, and interact with on the two floors include: a history of early explorers in the area (don’t miss the two cannons that were discovered on the beach, dating back to 1578, when the Spanish were actively exploring the area); whaling exhibitions; the fascinating histories of famous shipwrecks, oil spills, and surfing in the region; the original Point Conception Lighthouse lens, and plenty more.
Be sure to step into the conning area of a submarine, as well! Stand behind the periscope and imagine what it would be like at sea, as you observe the landscape, or in time of war, enemy vessels preparing to fire a torpedo. Of course, today, the view you will have from the periscope as you rotate it around is one of the most picturesque vistas you can see: the Santa Barbara Channel and Harbor.
Before leaving, allow a few minutes
to take the elevator up to the fourth floor and out onto the deck to check
out the view.
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is located at 113 Harbor Way, Suite 190, Santa Barbara. For more:
sbmm.org
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is another somewhat under-the-radar museum well worth the visit. Santa Barbara’s founding and growth was heavily influenced first by the Native American Chumash and then by early Spanish explorers. But there is so much more to learn about the history of this community of under 100,000 people known as “The American Riviera.”
About 13,000 years ago, the area was first inhabited by the Chumash tribe, who engaged in fishing and commerce. Spanish explorers came around 1782, and Mexico’s influence began in 1821. Oil exploration and, eventually, a cultural revolution and tourism, came in the following centuries. It all comes to life in the museum’s permanent display, The Story of Santa Barbara. During your tour of this exhibit — which includes documents, artwork, photographs, and an assortment of artifacts like saddles, clothes, furniture, and jewelry — you
will take a journey portraying the
people and events that helped shape
this community.
During the 90-plus years since the museum was established, it has focused on retaining the history of the area, in terms of settlement, business, the arts, and the people who have shaped Santa Barbara. More than 1,000 crucial artifacts have been donated to the museum, making visitors feel they are experiencing life in Santa Barbara
as it developed
and matured through the ages.
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located at 136 E De la Guerra, Santa Barbara. For more: sbhistorical.org
The Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum & Library is another unique and quite unusual gem. Opened in 2005, this is one of the largest doll museums in the U.S. and the largest teddy bear museum in the country. If you’re lucky, you may even get a hosted tour by
the owner, Susan Quinlan.
Put aside your conception of a typical children’s play doll. As you wander through this 9,000-square-foot museum, and the various galleries that are tastefully, artfully, and whimsically set up, you will discover a whole new world and meaning of the word “doll.”
Each special display gallery tells a history of the dolls on display. You will recognize dolls that represent movies, cartoons, puppets, stories, ethnicities, entertainers, and famous people.
You’ll find exhibits of dolls representing Native American, Spanish, Russian, and other ethnic groups that helped shape California and the United States, as well as exhibits representing famous art, artists, movies and books. Each display area has a different theme, ranging from fairy tales to famous personalities, and fun adventures.
The Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum & Library is located at 122 W Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara. For more: quinlanmuseum.com
The Carpinteria Valley Museum of History is located in Carpinteria, a small seaside community south of Santa Barbara, with a population of about 13,000. Visiting this quaint museum, you will get an idea of the history of the area, going back to the Chumash Native Americans, the Spanish and Mexican explorers, pioneers, and immigrants who settled here and built this community.
For such a small town, it is rich in history, going back to Gaspar de Portolá’s expedition in 1769! Built two hundred years later, the museum is laid out in different rooms, each one depicting vignettes of the life and times of the area, through pictures, artifacts, and reproductions. These include early farming and industrial development. Did you know that Carpinteria was a major lima bean, citrus, and flower producer? Or, that there was an important operational asphalt mine created from the tar pits, where there was a natural asphalt seep? You’ll also find Chumash artifacts, from arrowheads to utensils for cooking and daily living, as well as an area devoted to Carpinteria’s
WWI history.
And, when you visit, be sure to ask one of the knowledgeable docents about the Carpinteria Historical Quilt that hangs at the end of the main hallway.
The Carpinteria Valley Museum of History is located at 956 Maple Ave, Carpinteria. For more: carpinteriahistoricalmuseum.org
Solvang, known as “The Danish Capitol of America,” is a charming town, founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants. This could be described as an outdoor living museum. Stroll along the streets and enjoy the Danish atmosphere, including windmills, bakeries (you must try their famous aebleskiver), small parks, restaurants featuring traditional Danish cuisine, and stores selling Danish goods, clothing, and much more. You’ll get a good introduction to Danish culture in this delightful town.
Additionally, there are several specialty museums you may want to check out. The Hans Christian Andersen Museum features books and exhibits by and about Denmark’s most famous author. The Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum allows you to get up close and personal with almost 100 vintage and classic motorcycles, dating back to the early 1900s. The Solvang Viking Museum includes an authentic Viking Ship, a display of Viking weaponry dating back 1,000 years, plus displays
of the Viking burial and journey to Valhalla — as well as the Viking discovery of America.
Drive a few minutes up the road from Solvang, and you’ll arrive in the town of Santa Ynez. At The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Parks-Janeway Carriage House, step back in time and experience the historic West right in the heart of downtown Santa Ynez. This museum shares the rich heritage and lifestyles of the local vaqueros, Californios, rancheros, and settlers through exhibits and events. It brings the past alive through permanent and rotating exhibits and permanent collections featuring items such as Western art, vaquero and Western tack and tools, and silver adorned parade and working saddles. You will also see many fascinating historic displays, like horse and cattle related gear and tools, a selection of handguns, rifles, and sheriff badges, old farm equipment, and early photographs of the region. In the Valley Room, you’ll discover details on how each of the area’s communities were founded and developed (Ballard, Los Alamos, Santa Ynez, Los
Olivos, Solvang, and Buellton).
The Parks-Janeway Carriage House displays one of the finest collections of authentic horse-drawn vehicles to be found west of the Mississippi, including stagecoaches, wagons, and buggies for work and transportation. This is from an era when “horsepower” meant just that: horse-power!
Learn and listen to stories from characters like Felix Mattei, who was the founder of Mattei’s Tavern, and George Monroe, “Knight of the Sierras”, who was a tour coach driver for Yosemite Park. View the authentic 1800s Chuck Wagon and learn about the original food truck. Climb aboard and snap a picture in a beautiful Overland Stagecoach, too!
The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum is located at 3596 Sagunto St, Santa Ynez. For more: santaynezmuseum.org
In addition to these (and other) museums in and around Santa Barbara, there are delightful finds in various parts of the county. Research and explore on your own, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
DON SONDERLING is a freelance writer covering California’s unique lifestyle of wine, food, adventure, and special places to visit, from Ventura County north to Napa Valley and beyond.
He may be reached at:
donsonderling@gmail.com