Summerland, California
| Summerland | |
|---|---|
| Census designated place | |
Summerland, as seen from the top of Ortega Hill, 2006
|
|
 Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California |
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| Coordinates: 34°25′17″N 119°35′45″W / 34.42139°N 119.59583°WCoordinates: 34°25′17″N 119°35′45″W / 34.42139°N 119.59583°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 California
|
| County | Santa Barbara |
| Government | |
| • State senator | Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) |
| • Assemblymember | Monique Limón (D) |
| • U. S. rep. | Salud Carbajal (D) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.990 sq mi (5.152 km2) |
| • Land | 1.983 sq mi (5.135 km2) |
| • Water | 0.007 sq mi (0.017 km2) 0.33% |
| Elevation | 121 ft (37 m) |
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |
| • Total | 1,448 |
| • Density | 730/sq mi (280/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 93067 |
| Area code | 805 |
| FIPS code | 06-75714 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1656637 |
Summerland is a census designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The population was 1,448 at the 2010 census, down from 1,545 at the 2000 census.
The town includes a school and a Presbyterian Church. There are many small businesses.
Tar from natural oil seeps in the Summerland area was long used as a sealant, both by the native Chumash peoples and by the Spanish builders of the Mission Santa Barbara, who used it as waterproofing for the roof. In 1883, spiritualist and real estate speculator H.L. Williams founded the town of Summerland. In 1888 he divided his land tract, on a moderately sloping hill facing the ocean, into numerous parcels. He promoted the tiny lots – 25 x 60 – to fellow Spiritualists, who bought them in quantity and moved to the area. The spiritual center of the town was a Spiritualist Church, with séance room, demolished only when Highway 101 was put through in the 1950s.
In the 1890s, oil development began in the coastal area of Summerland, at the Summerland Oil Field. Numerous wooden oil derricks were built on the beach, and on piers stretching into the ocean. The world's first offshore oil well, drilled into the sea floor, was at this location. Production at this beach area peaked before 1910, although most of the rigs remained into the 1920s. Peak production from the onshore portion of the Summerland Field did not actually occur until 1930; the last oil was pumped from the nearshore region in 1940. In 1957, Standard Oil Co. of California (now Chevron) found the large Summerland Offshore Oil Field, several miles offshore, which was shut down in the 1990s.
In January 1969, a blowout at the Dos Cuadras Field, about five miles offshore, caused the Santa Barbara Oil Spill, a formative event for the modern environmental movement.
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