Although the Chumash Indians were really the founders of this community, the place most historians begin with is when the Santa Inés Mission was founded.
Mission Santa Ynez (or "Ines") - Solvang, California - From "The Century Illustrated" Monthly Magazine, May-October 1883
The Santa Inés Mission
On September 17, 1804, the Santa Inés Mission was founded by Friar Estevan Tapis. The patriarch of the California Missions, Father Serra, had died twenty years earlier. The spot chosen for the new mission was the site of the village called Alajulapu, and it overlooked the beautiful Santa Inés River. Santa Inés was the last of the southern missions, the third to honor a sainted woman, the nineteenth out of the twenty-one missions, and it completed the chain of missions between San Francisco and San Diego. Alajulapu boasted fertile fields for crops and grazing animals, and the Chumash who lived at the mission raised wheat, barley corn, beans, and other crops. They also dressed the hides of animals, extracted tallow for candies, and wove cloth. For the construction of the mission, beams were brought from the San Rafael Mountains, pine logs were prepared and tiles were made.
In the beginning, Jose Calzada and Jose Romualdo Gutierrez were in charge of the Mission. It was designed by Father Javier de Uria. Up until the earthquake of 1812, construction was an ongoing process. After the quake, construction had to begin anew. The chapel was destroyed, and all the buildings were damaged, either in pieces or completely beyond repair. The Mission was rebuilt, and the new church was dedicated on July 4, 1817. One-fourth of the original structure remains standing today, with eleven of the original 22 arches. In 1810, the Mexican military forces in California became dependent on the missions, the result of a political problem in Mexico — the Chumash were forced to supply the soldiers, which led to “Indian Revolt” in 1824. In 1836, the Mission had overcome its problems and was clearly a prosperous place. Its inventory consisted of 8,040 cattle, 1,923 sheep, 343 horses, 987 fruit tress, and 45 mules. In 1904, Father Alexander Buckler and his niece, Mamie Goulet, began a 20 year reconstruction of the mission. The result was the beautiful building that graces Solvang’s skyline today.
Above: Ballard School, present day.
Ballard
In 1830, George W. Lewis was born. He would come to play an important part in Santa Ynez Valley history. In 1850, Lewis came to the Valley, but soon left for Mexico, leaving his land in the hands of a friend, William Ballard. While Lewis was in Mexico, Ballard started the Ballard Station, a stage coach stop for weary travelers. When Ballard died, Lewis returned from Mexico and founded the town of Ballard, named for his friend, in 1880. Ballard was the seventh town in Santa Barbara County, and for two years it was the only town in the Santa Ynez Valley. The streets were 60 to 100 feet wide, and were named in honor of Lewis’ friends and relations. Ballard featured the only public general store in the area, which had groceries, dry goods, and medicines. Ballard also boasted a post office and blacksmith. Before the post office became a part of the general store, it was simply a box nailed to a tree!
One of the major features of Ballard was Ballard Schoolhouse—not merely a school, but a gathering place for all early Valley residents, who flocked to the little schoolhouse (originally painted railroad yellow) for weddings, funerals, church services, dances, meetings, and debates. The new school featured white plastered walls, six big windows, a blackboard, and two anterooms (one for the boys, one for the girls). It was clearly a welcome change from two earlier schools, which had been housed in a granary and an abandoned saloon. Today, the schoolhouse is still used by the next generation of Valley residents — Ballard School’s kindergarten class.
Ballard today is mostly residential, with the exception of the Ballard Inn, making the town a peaceful retreat for tourists, as well as a quiet hideaway for residents.
Santa Ynez
In 1882, the Wild West came to the Valley, with the founding of Santa Ynez. Named after the Mission and the river, this western town quickly became a thriving village with a post office, many saloons, a barber shop, harness shop, millinery shop, a drug store, a Chinese laundry, and many homes. A rivalry was quickly established between the Valley’s first town, Ballard, and the new town of Santa Ynez. Signs were put up saying “One and a half miles to Virgin City” (Ballard) and “One and a half miles to Buzzard’s Haven.” (Santa Ynez).
At one time, Santa Ynez was the social and economic center of the Valley. One of its greatest assets in its heyday was the College Hotel, which housed visitors from as far away as Chicago and Los Angeles. It featured some of the Valley’s grandest architecture until it burned to the ground in 1935. A post office was opened on July 2, 1883, with mail coming from Santa Barbara and Los Alamos. The first Valley newspaper, the Santa Ynez Argus, was started in Santa Ynez by King and Merrill in 1888.
Unlike the busy hubbub of long ago, Santa Ynez today is an quiet town with false front buildings and a western sprawl to it.
The Los Olivos depot of the Pacific Coast Railway.
Los Olivos
In 1887, the Valley’s third town, Los Olivos, came into being with the coming of a railroad. In 1882, the same year Santa Ynez was founded, the Pacific Coast Railway was completed from Port Hartford to Los Alamos. In 1887, the rails continued to Los Olivos, and the trains came chugging in.
The new town was named after Rancho de Los Olivos, an area farm and ranch which raised olives and was owned by Alden March Boyd. Los Olivos had a store, saloons, a livery stable, a train station which housed a telegraph office, a hotel, and at one time boasted a second hotel and an engine house, both of which burned to the ground and were never rebuilt. Today, the Amtrak rail lines have been rerouted along the coast, and Los Olivos is made up of homes, art galleries, wine tasting rooms and restaurants. One thing that remains is historic Mattei’s Tavern, originally owned by Swiss immigrant Felix Mattei and his wife. Today, many of the downstairs rooms feature their original decor, and the tavern is open every night for dinner. Another of the Valley’s charming towns, Los Olivos is a remembrance of days gone by.
Mattei's Tavern, Los Olivos, 1908.
Buellton
In 1867, Rufus T. Buell was struck with gold fever, and came to California to seek his fortune. He ended up in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he purchased 26,634 acres of land for his new ranch, San Carlos de Jonata. The ranch was self-sustaining, with a post office, a public store, and a blacksmith. The residents of the ranch busied themselves with the dairying, farming, stock raising and cheesemaking duties to keep Buell’s venture prosperous. As the result of a dry year, Buell lost 10,000 acres to a San Francisco bank, which sold them to the Santa Ynez Valley Land and Improvement Company. This was the start of Buellton.
In recent years, Buellton became an incorporated city. It is well known for Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant and hotel, which offers a welcome break to drivers on Highway 101.
Copenhagen Drive, Solvang.
Solvang
In 1911, there was a meeting in San Francisco, and though the people attending the meeting didn’t know it, they were about to become an important part of Santa Ynez Valley history. Their goal was to find a home for a new Danish folk colony in California, patterned after a similar project in Grand View, Illinois.
The educators found, in what became Solvang, a land which had the climate, water supply, fertility of soil and beauty that they were looking for. They purchased 9,000 acres from the West Coast Development and Land Company, and thus the town of Solvang–which translates to “sunny fields” or “silver meadow” in Danish—was founded.
In 1914, Atterdag College was founded. Atterdag means “there shall be another day” in Danish. In the early days, the college had no textbooks, no exams and no degrees, and taught traditional Danish folk arts and crafts. It was a full time college until 1937, and between 1938 and 1951 it was used as a summer school.
Today, Solvang is still a Danish town. There are four Danish windmills, patterned after those that dot the countryside of Denmark, and a strict adherence to Old World architecture. Walking the streets of Solvang you’ll notice traditional thatch and copper roofs adorned with storks, which the Danes believe bring good luck.
Early residents of this beautiful Danish town included the Nielsens, Petersens, lversons, and Christiansens, descendants of whom live here today.
