Santa Barbara County History

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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Source:
A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara,
San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California
by Yda Addis Storke
Published in 1891 in Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Co.


THE EASTERN PORTION OF SANTA BARBARA. 

The Ortega hill is a lateral spur from the mountains, perhaps 600 feet high, projecting 
into the sea so boldly as to make difficult the building of a road around it. The beach 
below the hill is passable at low water, but at high tide the surf dashes against the rocks, 
cutting off the passage. This was a point of dread to the earlier boards of supervisors, 
for they were continually called upon to repair the road, this then being the only avenue 
of communication with what is now Ventura County. The road was built along the edge 
of the bluff, and every rain would so damage it by landslides, etc., as to necessitate costly 
repairs. Many thousands of dollars were expended before the completion of the fine 
grade around and over the hill. This was also a serious stumbling-block to the railway 
companies.