Follow-up Q & A with Neal Graffy
Golf and Hoff Story

We fired off an email with a bunch of questions to local historian Neal Graffy before we published this article. We thought it was worthwhile sharing his reponses.

Edhat: As we understand it, the golf course is not just on the land from the hospital. Some of it came from the State when they built the Showgrounds.

Graffy: That is correct. There were two large parcels of land here. Pretending that Toyon Drive and Ontare Road continue to 101 and Stanley Road crosses Las Positas and extends west will serve as nice boundary lines.

A 1931 map shows the Parks family held some 92 acres framed by 101, Las Positas and our imaginary Ontare Road and Stanley Drive lines. Earl Ovington had the section to the north bounded by Las Positas, more or less along today's McCaw and our imaginary Stanley and Toyon lines - this being his "Casa Loma" airfield. He also had a section across Las Positas covering much if not all of MacKenzie Park and the "lower" Samarkand between Stanley and Serena/de la Vina.

Hoff seems to have pretty much covered Ovington's property. He died in 1936 so I'm not sure if it was still Ovington property when the government bought it.

Leaving my old property maps and heading to the intenet, the Earl Warren Showgrounds history states that "...in 1950, a site at the corner of Las Positas Road and Calle Real was selected for the showground. The state of California ... purchased 136.5 acres of land at the site...[they] gave eighty-two acres to the city to add to the community golf course and ten acres for the construction of Adams Elementary School."

Returning to a set of property maps from 1978, Earl Warren Showgrounds covers 33.81 acres, the golf course 82.4 acres and Adams School is 9.38. That's just about 11 acres short of the 136.5 but I note that the map also shows MacKenzie Park at 9.55 acres and the Army Reserve at 2.50 acres so maybe they're part of the 136.50 acres (although adding them to the mix does put us an acre too high).

If the Earl Warren Showgounds history is correct, it would appear the city got the whole golf course as a result of the showgrounds purchase.

Edhat: And, the buildings for the armory are still the old hospital admin buildings?

Graffy: I don't know about those particular buildings. I know a number of the old Hoff buildings are around town. "Tex" Blankenship, a great Santa Barbara character (and builder of the Timbers - quite a story there!), got a number of Hoff buildings, moved them, converted them into houses and rented them. His family still owns several of them over on Pemm Place just off La Cumbre.

I seem to recall that the Anacapa High School buildings on Santa Barbara street are also left over Hoff buildings.

Edhat: We also read somewhere that the county kept some of the land for an equipment yard. Do you know where that is?

Graffy: I'm pretty sure I do and it's only because of Google Earth! Check out the golf course and head for the western edge where it ain't green no more. The road to it comes off the parking lot, skirts the clubhouse on the west and then heads west to some large looking sheds and a lot of vehicles. Might just be maintenance for the golf course?

Edhat: Thanks for all your help with this article!

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