History can easily be seen as a thing only viewable through dusty sepia tone photographs and moldy newspapers, but this ignores the history living all around us, in the most unlikely objects and people. The several historical societies and museums throughout Northern Santa Barbara County showcase shelves of photographs and other artifacts of course, but it’s the knowledgeable and friendly volunteers who provide the context, connection, and anecdotes that allow a simple collection of stuff to illustrate so much more about the generations of yesteryear.
Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Lompoc, and the Santa Ynez Valley all boast their own respective historical societies and museums, which reflect the unique charm and character of each area. Each group enjoys the help of volunteers, and all are looking for more interested and motivated locals to help with a variety of tasks. Whether leading tours, managing the front desk, or helping with online or computer tasks, there are lots of ways locals can lend their support in preserving local history and heritage.
Santa Maria
There’s no telling who you may find at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society and Museum on any given day, explained board member Mike Farris; some volunteers enjoy the early part of the day and others come in later. On this particular afternoon, Ken and Charla Chaffee along with Jerry Simas occupied the museum’s bookshelf-lined research room. The three were on hand to help Farris lead tours, conduct research, and enter information into the digital databases now being used by the museum.
Several lifelong Santa Maria residents, such as Simas, are especially adept at leading tours at the museum. They’re able to contribute anecdotes and tailored information in regards to any of the valley’s historical topics, from the Orcutt oil boom to G. Allan Hancock.
“We get a lot of Hancock students doing historical research who are sent over here by their teachers,” Simas said. “I find that most of them don’t know where the name of Hancock came from, so they leave knowing where it came from.”
The Santa Maria Valley Historical Society is always looking for volunteers who would like to help the organization. Tasks include leading tours, helping with paperwork, data entry, and online outreach. Residents who can offer interesting perspectives on local history are encouraged to join. The Santa Maria Valley Historical Society and Museum is located at 616 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. More information is available at 922-3130.
Guadalupe
Guadalupe may be one of the smallest cities in Santa Barbara County, but it has a big history. From the community’s beginnings as a Mexican land grant to the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the agricultural shipping boom that followed, the Rancho de Guadalupe Historical Society and Museum showcases the town’s evolution with a wonderful collection carefully packed into the corner of the Guadalupe Veteran’s Memorial Building. The museum is open to locals on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m.
“We have no staff, we are all volunteer,” said historical society board member Shirley Boydstun. “We are open on the weekends, but we are also open by appointment, and we try to make as many of those work as possible.”
The Rancho de Guadalupe Historical Society also opens the Historic Jail on 9th Street on the last Sunday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. The tiny jailhouse was built nearly a century ago, explained Boydstun.
“In 1926 the county of Santa Barbara built four jails: Lompoc, Los Alamos, Santa Maria, and ours, and ours is the only one that is still standing,” she said. “The historical society took that on as a project to rehabilitate and refurbish and have available to visitors and school kids to learn about the city.”
The Rancho de Guadalupe Historical Society needs help from locals interested in the history of Guadalupe. Volunteers can be docents at the museum, helping out on the weekends when the location is open, but help is also needed to catalog a large book collection. Anyone with library experience is more than welcome, Boydstun explained. The Rancho de Guadalupe Historical Society is located at the Veterans’ Memorial Building, 1005 Guadalupe St., Guadalupe. More information is available at 343-5901 or guadalupemuseum.org.
Lompoc
Before Lompoc officially incorporated in 1888, people were reticent to begin building permanent residences, as no one was sure of the future of the valley. Henry Wadsworth Fabing built the first two-story wood house in Lompoc in 1875, and he probably had little thought for the future residents of the home, whether it was the following families who owned the home or the Lompoc Valley Historical Society, which now calls the Fabing-McKay-Spanne Historical House home.
Lompoc Valley Historical Society volunteers pay close attention to this jewel in Lompoc’s historical crown. Mondays, Thursdays, and the last Saturday of the month are days when the historical home is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for tours. The volunteers meet at 9 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays to do house cleaning, yard work, and other general upkeep for the Victorian-era farm home. Also sharing the property is the society’s Carriage House, which includes wagons, buggies, tools, and even a 1908 Ford Model S, which also needs attention from volunteers.
Volunteers with a passion for history and attention to detail are welcome to join and contribute their skills to the society. The Lompoc Valley Historical Society and Fabing-McKay-Spanne Historical House are located at 207 North L St., Lompoc. More information is available at 735-4626, reference@lompochistory.org, and lompochistory.org.
Santa Ynez Valley
The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Parks-Janeway Carriage House is the valley’s home for everything relating to its past, from the Chumash residency to the founding of the towns of Santa Ynez, Buellton, Solvang, Los Olivos, and Ballard. The museum boasts several rooms filled with exhibits, artifacts, and photographs on the same property as the Parks-Janeway Carriage House, which showcases several kinds of carriages, explained executive director Chris Bashforth.
“We have a variety of different carriages,” she said. “And the word carriage is just a generic term for many kinds of stage coaches, freight wagons, doctors buggies, delivery wagons, and we even have a hearse carriage.”
Bashforth is full time at the museum and is aided by a few part-time employees, but the organization still needs a great deal of help from locals willing to give their time. Volunteers can help with exhibits and special events, like the museum’s annual Vaquero Show and Sale event in November, Bashforth explained, but help is especially needed to digitize a large archive of photographs. Locals with computer expertise are in high demand.
“We would like to have people who enjoy the horse culture, the history of the valley, or those that want to learn about how the valley started,” she said. “We would really like to just have a bigger cadre of volunteers all around.”
The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Parks-Janeway Carriage House is located at 3596 Sagunto St., Santa Ynez. More information is available at 688-7889, syvm@verizon.net, or santaynezmuseum.org.
Arts Editor Joe Payne could yap about history all day too. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 8-15, 2015.