COMMENT 153077
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2011-03-12 09:57 AM |
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All your pieces are great; this one is stupendous!!! And I get a kick out of the backwards imprinted Pueblo St. "B." I wonder where the person who did that is now! And was it a crew and everyone missed it?
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COMMENT 153092
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2011-03-12 10:38 AM |
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The early cement layers in this town were often immigrant workers who may have been illiterate. Therefore a backwards "B" may not have registered any alarms. Adult Ed in this town got its start, and still one of its most important mission, teaching English and citizenship to this large group of new arrivals - mainly Italian artisans at that time skilled beautifully with their crafts, but not necessarily book-learned in their countries of origin.
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COMMENT 153129
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2011-03-12 01:24 PM |
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Thanks, this is the best one yet. Keep them coming.
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COMMENT 153168
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2011-03-12 04:57 PM |
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Wonderful neighborhood, fabulous narrative!
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COMMENT 153092
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2011-03-12 06:06 PM |
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Neighborhood was a lot nicer before the city turned both Santa Barbara and Anacapa streets into high traffic volume, one-way speedways below Mission Street. I am surprised the residents below Mission Street, at least to East Valerio where it is still very residential, let the city do this to them.
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CAPTAIN HALEY
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2011-03-12 07:48 PM |
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@153178 -- that had to be at least 50 years ago, didn't it?
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LOURAY
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2011-03-12 08:31 PM |
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Yep, they were playing with the one-way pattern when I was in high school (Class of '60). At one point there were one-way signs mounted in opposite directions on poles at each corner, with burlap coverings which could be moved to configure the next experiment: Anacapa North only or South only? etc. I was trying to learn to drive at the time. What a delightful mess. I heard a rumor that some of the HS kids were going to go out one night and set up the burlap so that alternate blocks of the same streets would be directed into opposing one-ways. Pretty sure it didn't happen - - the carnage would have been considerable - - but we had our less harmful pranks, including depredations upon innocent fake cows.
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COMMENT 153201
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2011-03-13 07:37 AM |
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Nicely done! I enjoyed your article and photos.
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PATRICK
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2011-03-13 07:57 AM |
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Thanks for the information about many of the buildings that I see every day. I like the little discoveries, like the backwards "B".
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COMMENT 153208P
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2011-03-13 09:19 AM |
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This is fascinating! Thanks so much. (Is the urban hiking group open to others?)
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SEEDLADY
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2011-03-13 10:19 AM |
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153208P: using the previous postings, you could be the one to get a group started. Just put out a call here on edhat, posting time for an organizational meeting (what day/time is best) and get started hiking!
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AGENTSME
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2011-03-13 11:18 AM |
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Thank you!
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EL BARBARENO
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2011-03-13 01:25 PM |
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This is a wonderful column I, enjoy the walks and the stories but...(and I do hate to nit-pick) the Rochin Adobe history was really off. There is a plaque on the front of the building that gives a concise history of the adobe. It was bought in 1856 not 1848 and the redwood siding was added in 1901, not 1898. Additionally, it was never a brothel (first time I've heard that story - though there were brothels across the street in the "Sojourner Building" and in the area now covered by the Post Office) and the Rochin's heirs lived in Santa Barbara until their deaths in 1947 and 1960. They never lived in the adobe, but converted it into a duplex and rented it (and it was not vacant from 1916 to 1924) . It remained rented until 1961 when the Rochin's grand-daughter and her husband moved into the adobe and created the mini-museum. I love it that you catch all those interesting things pressed into the sidewalks. It is unfortunate that so many of our street names - some misspelled, letters reversed, letters upside down and in a few cases an earlier name - stamped on the corners have been jack-hammered into oblivion for wheel chair access or for the stupid bulb-outs. In San Francisco they carefully cut the names out and set them back in again when they poured the cement for the wheel-chair access. Isn’t this something our City Landmarks should be insisting on preserving?
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COMMENT 153092
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2011-03-13 05:39 PM |
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You will find many of the cut out sidewalk contractor markings have been cut out and saved nearby. Lots of them. There should be a contest to collect as many different ones as can be found and see if we can get some history about those people and companies that put them in. I love the fish one and that circle on with a Motor company or something. The surprise to me is how many different cement laying companies existed in this town at that time and how much pride they took in their work - it was a true craft then and how proud they must feel knowing how well a lot of their signed work has held up. A good new path for America to get back on is superior craftsmanship in all its work product that comes with a USA made label. We lost out on this one a while back, but there must still be much where USA still sets the highest standards for excellent craftsmanship.
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