The new OASIS community center proposed for Old Town Orcutt will add to the long history of the area and needs our generous support. In early 1868, Absolom Stubblefield, fresh from the California gold fields, made his way down the treacherous Cuesta Grade with his family, Indian guides, horses, and 160 head of cattle. Stubblefield took advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862 to make his home on 320 acres of free government land in the Orcutt foothills.
Along with the arrival of early settlers with familiar names such as Halloway, Righetti, Twitchell, Glines, Hobbs, and Martin to the Orcutt area, former Irish Soldier Don Patrico O’Neill opened the La Graciosa trading center consisting of a store and saloon around 1863 near the present location of Old Town Orcutt. By 1870, the old town had 370 inhabitants living in surrounding shanties. The saloon doubled as a school, courthouse, and post office. Along with Guadalupe and Los Alamos, the community was served by the Coast Line Stage Company.
The court and the justice of the peace had jurisdiction from the Santa Maria River to Santa Barbara. When court was in session at the La Graciosa, the wearing of hats and other disruptions were not allowed. But fines were frequently forgiven if the offender bought a round of drinks for all. Like other Western towns, the forerunner of Old Orcutt was rough and tumble and had its share of homicides between cattlemen and drinkers.
Into this mix, just as in a Western movie, stepped Salomon Pico our famous outlaw that inhabited Salomon Peak (the flat mountain top behind Old Orcutt) and who held up travelers as they slowed down coming up Salomon grade. These desperados later became the basis for early Western movies.
By 1906, La Graciosa was renamed for Union Oil geologist William Orcutt after the oil gusher “Old Maud” made oil central to the community. But cattle were still driven down Clark Street to the narrow gage train depot as late as 1905. Cowboys and oil workers bellied up to the bars and the boom attracted prostitutes, saloons, drinking, and gambling. Slowly over the years the town tamed and went into a deep slumber.
After this colorful early history, the Old Town Orcutt Revitalization Association (OTORA) brought Old Town Orcutt into a new era in 2012, with the completion of the Far Western Tavern as well as other new buildings in the revitalized Western community.
Today, we are fortunate to have the Orcutt Area Seniors In Service (OASIS) pushing ahead with its proposed community center, which will be used by the entire community after the generous donation of 5.2 acres by the Steve and Debbie LeBard family at the entrance to Old Town. This community center will service more than just seniors. In addition to the 16,000 square-foot building with six classrooms, a library, a commercial kitchen, an indoor barbecue pit, and a 300-guest-capacity auditorium, the project will also include a community park with a half-mile walking trail. It will also be a premier location for weddings.
The following Orcutt area organizations will use the facility: the Los Padres Artist Guild, Orcutt Mineral Society, and the Orcutt United Soccer League. Into this mix will be added other groups such as the Orcutt Children’s Art Foundation, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Santa Maria Valley, and the Kiwanis Club of Orcutt. The list of organizations needing space is growing, and the need for the Orcutt community facility grows by the day!
The OASIS group and its project is worthy of our strong support. OASIS is a group that is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was incorporated in 1984, making donations tax deductible. Before 1984, it was called the Orcutt Senior Club and met in the Orcutt Lion’s Den as early as 1967. It has a record of more than 50 years of community service. OASIS hopes to start offering services in the proposed new facility by 2018.
To further its goal, OASIS is planning a Spring Gala with a dinner, raffles, and auctions set for Friday, March 24, from 5 to 8 pm at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria. Jim Glines, from one of Orcutt’s pioneer families, will be running the live action. The event will be hosted by Supervisor Steve Lavagnino. If you would like to attend the dinner please call 937-9750 to make reservations. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, it can be sent to OASIS, P.O. Box 2637, Orcutt, CA, 93457. Join with the community and make this a reality!
Ken McCalip is a North Santa Barbara County native who holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. He can be reached at kennethmccalip@yahoo.com. Send in your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2017.