It was a day that changed Santa Barbara forever. But out of the tragedy and destruction came the architectural look of the city we know today. On June 29, 1925, the city was rocked by a massive earthquake.
"The earthquake happened between 6:42 and 6:43 a.m. Exactly when, we'll never get that debate finished. It was estimated at 6.3 on the Richter Scale," said historian Neal Graffy. He said the quake left 11 people dead, and the core of the city in ruins.
"Downtown Santa Barbara was destroyed. We had a lot of brick buildings with wooden frames. Wood moves during an earthquake, and brick and concrete do not move. So, the interior of these buildings just hammered the exterior walls," said Graffy. "All those empty fronted buildings in the earthquake photographs, the bricks just got hammered out onto the sidewalks. In residential parts of the city, most houses did okay. They lost their chimneys."
Graffy stepped into the middle of an exhibition in the Santa Barbara Historical Museum commemorating the earthquake’s 100th anniversary. The Santa Barbara historian said two men helped save the city from even more disaster. Remember, San Francisco was destroyed by fire after its 1906 earthquake.
"Santa Barbara had a most fortunate experience because of two men, one at the electric company, who ran through the building as it was disintegrating, and pulled the switch to cut the power to Santa Barbara," said Graffy. He pointed to a switch in a display case. "That power switch is right in front of us in a display case here at the museum. At the gas company, another man shut off all the valves and cut off the gas to Santa Barbara. We did not have a fire. And, for the first time, seismologists and geologists, engineers and contractors were able to look at the effects of an earthquake on buildings, and see what worked and didn't work."
The city of 25,000 was cut off from the outside world because the quake damaged rail lines. President Calvin Coolidge sent aid by sea.
"There was the battleship Arkansas and ten other ships, all here to help Santa Barbara, said Gaffy. "They were followed two days later by the Marines, who came to Santa Barbara. It's funny to think about in our current situation, but the Marines were welcomed. It was just to help patrol the streets."
The community rallied, with people helping each other rebuild. Decades ago, when a number of quake survivors were still alive, Graffy interviewed some of them.
"As kids, [they] loved it because they got to camp outside. It wasn't that scary for them, camping outside for two or three weeks," said Graffy.
The almost brand-new Granada Theater came through the quake virtually unscathed. But the Santa Barbara Mission was heavily damaged. Because of its beautiful design and location, donations came in from around the country to help rebuild it.
But something even bigger occurred in the wake of the quake. The city’s downtown area had been an architectural hodgepodge, like a typical small Midwest town. Graffy said community leaders saw it as an opportunity to start over from scratch and embrace a new architectural style for the city, one we are all familiar with today.
"Santa Barbara was changed. This was seen as the pivotal time," said the historian. The (Santa Barbara) Community Arts Association had been pushing for a unified building code, and also to start building in this Mediterranean style. We had the Lobero Theater, the Daily News building, Santa Barbara City Hall, El Paseo...all were looked at as what Santa Barbara could be, and should be. The earthquake gave us the opportunity. The city leaders agreed. Within 48 hours of the earthquake, the newspaper headlines said 'Spanish Architecture to rise from ruins.'
The city offered to help businesses rebuild using the style, which people quickly embraced. So, the Santa Barbara we know today exists because of the 1925 quake.
Several events this week will commemorate the quake's centennial. A good starting point is an exhibition at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum featuring hundreds of photographs and other artifacts.
"This exhibition is special because every photograph, every artifact tells a story of resilience, survival, or rebuilding in the city," said Emily Allisio, the Museum’s Director of Education.
The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and until 7 p.m. on Thursdays. The exhibition 1925! Santa Barbara Remembers The Earthquake runs through July 6.
Graffy is writing a book about the 1925 earthquake, titled The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake: The Disaster That Built A City. It's expected to be published later this year.
