Santa Barbara needed a pier. In 1872, despite opposition from a smaller adjacent pier, construction was completed on a 1500_foot pier, named Stearns Wharf, which became the longest deep_water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Named for its builder, local lumberman John P. Stearns, the wharf served both passenger and freight traffic for over a quarter century. Stearns added an additional spur to the wharf to accommodate the newly arrived railroad in 1877. The spur was damaged by severe storms in the early 1900's and was finally abandoned in 1923. In the 1930s, gamblers boarded floating casinos at the pier, and during World War II it served as a naval installation. The shipping and transportation era ended in 1941 when The Harbor Restaurant was built on the wharf, becoming the economic backbone of the wharf. Stearns died in 1902 and his widow continued ownership, hiring the manager away from the Carpinteria Pier.
Properly a pier, not a wharf, the structure is still built primarily of wood. It is 1,950_foot_long in a slight boot shape.
A breakwater was constructed in 1927. The harbor has long suffered the problems of excess sand accumulating around the breakwater, but the breakwater also helps shelter Stearns Wharf. The harbor requires dredging annually.
Disastrous storms struck the pier in 1878, tossing anchored vessels onto the beach and destroying 900 feet of Stearns Wharf and the Chapala Pier was destroyed. Repairs were made and six months later, a freak waterspout crossed the channel, tossing boats at anchor into the pier. Stearns Wharf suffered from the earthquake in 1925. Even more devastating to the wharf was the fire of 1973 which destroyed the center third of the pier and caused its closing for six years until restorations began, and in the fall of 1981 it finally reopened. Another fire in the winter of 1998 devastated the last hundred and fifty feet of the wharf, including another restaurant, Moby Dick. The rest of the wharf remained open during the two year rebuilding.
Today, the pier is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Santa Barbara. A three dolphin fountain marks its entrance. Sand sculptures or make_shift war memorials fill the beach at the base of the pier. Shops and restaurants line the pier and the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum is building a learning center. The last few hundred feet are free of railings and on any day, fishermen, women, and children can be found pulling bright silver fish form the Pacific Ocean. Occasionally, a fish gets away to the delight of the Brown Pelicans.
Location:
Stearns Wharf is at the foot of State Street, off of Cabrillo Boulevard.
From 101 north, exit Cabrillo Boulevard toward ocean and continue to the Wharf, or exit Malpas or Garden Streets and turn left, then right onto Cabrillo Boulevard.
From 101 south, exit Castillo street, right, then left onto Cabrillo Boulevard or exit Garden street, turn right, then right onto Cabrillo Boulevard.
There is free parking with validation east of the wharf, 90 minute street parking, and parking on the wharf or nearby for a fee.
|
Gull. Photo Date: 9-26-04.
