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Time Travel from Gaviota Beach to Orcutt, California
On The History Highway
with Curt Cragg

Since the early Padres laid the path of the El Camino Real, Californians have been fascinated with the romance of the Coast Highway. Even today the pristine shore of the Pacific Ocean appears seemingly unchanged along the Gaviota coast north of Santa Barbara. This journey ends at Gaviota Beach where the route of Highway 101 turns inland and travels through coastal valleys in northern Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties. In fact, if you have traveled this route north you know that your next glimpse of the Pacific Ocean won’t be seen until you cross the Golden Gate of San Francisco.

In the early 1900’s as the automobile was dawning on America, adventurous travelers set out to make the journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco to see what this unspoiled coast was like. Through the magic of time travel I can take you back on a journey along a portion of the inland valley route from Gaviota Beach to the oilfields of Orcutt, in the northern part of Santa Barbara County.

My time machine is a Chevrolet touring car and although it is not quite as romantic as the notion of traveling “Back to the Future” in a silver Delorean, we’re less likely to stick out like sore thumb. When we pop into the 40’s and 50’s our car will change to a more modern coupe.

So jump in and enjoy the ride as we travel on the History Highway; California’s historic Highway 101! And don’t worry, we’ll be stopping at plenty of service stations along the way.

Better begin with a road map so you know where we're going to land.

The Map
On the lower right side of the map in front of the car you may be able to see the label “Las Cruces”. This small town was originally a stagecoach stop at a “Y” intersection leading either along the coast into Lompoc California, or behind the Santa Ynez mountains into the Santa Ynez Valley. Why did the road “Y” here? Because the La Purisima mission was located just outside of Lompoc and Mission “Santa Ines” was located in the Santa Ynez Valley. When the automobile began arriving on the coast of California, Las Cruces quickly converted to a small service town serving the needs of the oncoming motorists.

Before we drive to Las Cruces though, we’re going to make a quick stop at the Gaviota service station and store to check our tires and take on some water for our trip around the Gaviota Pass.

Curt, good to have you back writing about your part of the world. By chance does this mean that there is another book brewing? I always enjoy your looks into the past. One thing tho, the trip would have been smoother in a Ford Phaeton.lol

From the Gaviota store it was just a short drive north to the Gaviota pass. This historic pass was purpoted to be pivotal in the pursuit of California's future as an addition to the United States. Supposedly Mexican armies from Santa Barbara were lying in wait for Fremont and his armies as they headed south. Tipped off by a neighbor, they headed over the San Marcos Pass to the east instead and avoided the ambush.

Hopefully we wont get ambushed in our time machine, but this pre-bridge photo shows just how narrow was the gap. Imagine arriving in the first automobile trying to negotiate this dusty trail. Now imagine it with several hundred head of cattle being driven into the gorge on their way to the Gaviota wharf.

In 1911 the first bridge was built through this pivotal pass primarily to accommodated the automobile. It was a simple truss bridge, barely one lane wide on a dirt road.



After World War II attention was turned to improving the coast highway. The Gaviota Pass was of particular importance as it was the only way on this artery to round the coast from south to north. Faster moving cars demanded more room on the road so a northbound tunnel was added next to the concrete bridge built in the late 20’s or early 30’s allowing the traffic to be separated.

Stick with us, there's another service station just around the corner!