Campus Point. It’s one of the most popular surf spots in Santa Barbara County and one of the biggest reasons a lot of students choose UCSB. But it’s more than just a pretty point. Like most places in Goleta, there’s a lot of history there. Here is a quick little history of Campus Point and all the different names it has had through the years.
What we today call Campus Point has had several names and uses throughout the years. The earliest recorded name for the point was the Chumash name Sismikiw.
While there wasn’t a village right on the point, there were several nearby. In fact the Goleta Slough was the most populated area on the west coast, so the Chumash were surely very familiar with the point and they most certainly hunted and gathered there frequently.
When Cabrillo passed by this area in 1542 he made note of the large indigenous population in this area. Throughout the following centuries several European explorers passed through and many of them noted not only the amount of people but also the thick oak forest that came down from the mountains to the sea.
The early explorers were most interested in the large estuary with an island in the middle that they called Mescaltitlan. That name was consistent through the years, but the name of the point was always more of a variable. In 1782, the pilot on a resupply ship for the new Spanish presidios named Juan Pantoja was tasked with mapping the coastline. On his detailed map of the Goleta coast, he boldly labeled the point as Punta de Pantoja. Unfortunately for Juan, this is the only time we see his name used.
This map from 1855 shows the point labeled as Point Salinas. A Spanish translation for salinas is salt marsh, so they must have been referring to what we today call the campus lagoon. The lagoon naturally was open to the ebbs and flows of the tide, so it was more of a marsh back then. This name was used on a property map for Richard Den, Nicolas Den’s brother, and it is the first time we see Point Salinas used.
This 1860 map also calls it Point Salinas, or at least it appears to say that. This is the property map for Nicolas Den, so we can assume at least the Den brothers called it Point Salinas, if no one else.
This view makes it obvious that the majority of the point is really taken up by a body of water.
As we mentioned, the mouths of the campus lagoon were open to the ocean at that time, so it was more of a slough, or a salt marsh back then. This view makes it obvious how small the current separation between the lagoon and the sea really is.
Next the Federal Government got involved with the name game. On the 1870 U.S. Coastal Survey they bring in a whole new name, Pelican Point. Which also makes sense as there were probably plenty of the big birds around.
Its a little hard to see here, but it is labeled as Pelican Point.
This map from 1871 doesn’t really label the point, but it makes a point of calling the campus lagoon a slough. While the difference between a slough and a salt marsh can be tricky, the maker of this map seemed to have a handle on it because notice at the upper left, you’ll see a slough and a salt marsh, right next to each other…
By 1888, the official map of Santa Barbara County labels it simply as Goleta Point, but at this point in time, the locals had started calling it a different name entirely; Fish Rocks. The point was owned by Nicolas Den’s son, August, and most of the mesa was barren wasteland since all the oak trees had been cut down for fire wood. But in 1890, August’s fortune would change when a prosperous asphalt mine was opened on his property.
The asphalt mine operated just north of today’s campus lagoon for about ten years, bringing great wealth to August Den until it was shut down in 1899. You can read all about this on our Goleta Asphalt page.
As you can see in this photo from 1899, the point was a popular place for the young and fashionable to hang out. Also there were plenty of fishermen on the rocks, giving credence to the popular name, Fish Rocks.
But this map from 1903 goes back to the Pelican Point name. So it seems the names were all pretty interchangeable.
In 1910, a tragic story was in all the local papers describing an unfortunate incident at Fish Rocks. Albert Anderson, son of James Anderson of Glen Annie Canyon, went swimming pretty far off the point and was caught in a strong undertow, pulling him out to sea. His sisters watched helplessly from the beach as Peter Irvine and John Begg swam out to try to save him, but he went under for the last time as they approached. His dead body washed ashore around midnight. In some papers they describe the tragic incident happening at Pelican Point, but in the article above they unveil yet another name for the point; Rincon Point.
The reason that it would be called Rincon Point is because the Den family had nicknamed this whole area the Rincon Ranch. Rincon means corner in Spanish, and there were plenty of corners here. Coal Oil Point, Pelican Point and the circled area which was a sharp turn in the old ranch road were all called rincons. But since there was another more popular Rincon Point in Carpinteria, that name never really stuck here.
The drowning accident didn’t keep the folks of Goleta from having picnics and campouts at Fish Rocks. Since the Den family wasn’t worried about trespassing, it became a very popular place for recreational activities, as seen in these articles.
In 1916, another incident off of Fish Rocks caused quite a stir throughout Santa Barbara. This was most likely the first UFO sighting ever in Goleta. There was a report of two huge warships accompanied by two “aeroplanes” doing maneuvers late at night, but by morning they would vanish. Keep in mind, this is 1916, so airplanes were a rare sight, but even more so late at night. William Main, manager of the Bishop Ranch, was brave enough to step forward and tell the story, with support from several other ranchers. He said for several nights in a row, the aircraft were doing aerial stunts at high speeds above the ships with colored lights flashing all around the scene, and every morning, they would be gone without a trace.
When the local paper contacted the U.S. Navy, they clearly stated they had no ships anywhere near Santa Barbara. The media also contacted Japanese, British and German consulates in L.A. and San Francisco, and they all said they had no ships near California. The next day, one local newspaper, the Morning Press, published a snarky story making fun of William Main’s testimonial, calling it “irrelevant and incompetent”. The news story mockingly used words like whangdoodle and skedaddle, giving the impression that Main and the other Goleta farmers were goofy hicks, not to be taken seriously.
Main responded the following day with a scathing response, pointing out that he didn’t want any publicity, he just thought the public should know about what he thought were military exercises near Goleta. He then gave a very clear description of exactly what he saw, correcting errors the paper had made, and saying that he and several other local citizens are willing to testify under oath as to what they saw. He finished by saying that while he and the other ranchers don’t “sleep with dictionaries”, they would like to be considered as having “average human intelligence”. William was not to be trifled with…
Right on cue, Main’s testimony was confirmed the next day when some “Santa Barbara People” also saw the mystery ship off Fish Rocks. The article stated that “four credible people” saw a huge airship in broad daylight. The “uncanny machine” was unlike anything the public has ever seen, moving with remarkable swiftness, it was about 100 feet long and resembled a great spider with “long arms or legs in front and behind”. They watched it for some time when it suddenly shot into the fog bank and disappeared. They declared there was definitely something going on off the coast that those Goleta people have been seeing nightly for a week. Solid confirmation for those lowly Goleta farmers by real Santa Barbara people.
A few days later, Captain Ira Eaton, the well respected sailor featured in the book Diary of a Sea Captain’s Wife, admitted to seeing the mysterious air ship late at night on a return trip from the islands. The unidentified thing swooped suddenly within a couple hundred yards of his ship, the Sea Wolf, but he never heard an engine. He said he hesitated to report it because it was so unusual, he was afraid people would just think it was another one of his “marine yarns”. At this point, most everyone believed there was some kind of experiments being carried out off of Fish Rocks. But by who?
The following day, a U.S. Navy ship arrived to get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all. The U.S.S. Ellington was called a Chinese Chaser because it was used to stop Chinese smugglers, and it was the fastest ship in the Navy. Members of the crew said they should be able to catch the culprits in the act, despite the heavy fog. Meanwhile a reputable airplane manufacturer from San Francisco was interviewed at the Potter Hotel, and he was quite certain that no airplane manufacturers were experimenting in the area, fanning the flames of mystery…
But the next day, the Daily News broke the story that the mysterious maneuvers were indeed the U.S. Navy. They found out because a local man that was in the Navy wrote a letter to his mom, lamenting the fact that he couldn’t visit her even though he was just offshore near Santa Cruz Island, performing some Top Secret activities. Further investigation revealed there were not a few, but a whole fleet of warships participating in secret war games in the Santa Barbara Channel. Thus confirming the old Navy adage, “Loose lips, sink ships”.
The fleet of torpedo boat destroyers was led by the flagship, the USS Paul Jones, seen here. Their mission was to practice repelling airplane attacks on the coast, and they had new, top secret “high angle” guns they were trying out. This was all new technology, since airplanes were new to the naval theater, but today we call those anti-aircraft guns.
And that UFO that looked like a spider was actually something like this; an early version of a hydroplane. Case closed.
A big change came to the point in 1926 when Thomas Bishop bought the land to add an additional 400 acres to his Corona Del Mar Ranch. Bishop was a big time lawyer, and he was not going to tolerate trespassing. So from then on, public picnics and community campouts on the bluffs were not allowed. He called it Pelican Point in the announcement shown above.
And then in 1927, U.S. Geological Survey set a benchmark right on the point, and they also label it Pelican Point. If you want to know what a USGS benchmark is, google it. But the cool thing is, this marker is still there, right on today’s Campus Point for all to see, and it clearly labels the point, Pelican Point! So technically, the federal government still says this is Pelican Point.
In 1929, noted archeologist David Banks Rogers did a comprehensive study of all the Chumash sites on the coast of Goleta. He found no signs of ancient civilizations living on the mesa or the point, likely due to the lack of a reliable fresh water source. In his report Rogers labeled it Goleta Point.
For the next decade not much changed on the Point. The Corona Del Mar Ranch used the mesa for grazing and minimal agriculture since water was still not readily available there. This aerial from the 1930s shows all the empty land on the point, but also, look at those lines wrapping into the cove! And we’re pretty sure nobody surfed in Goleta back then…..
1942 brought WWII, and big changes came to Pelican Point. The federal government took over the little Goleta airport and transformed it into a Marine Air Base, practically overnight. On the open plains of the mesa, they started building living accommodations for the service men and women stationed there.
Very quickly, barracks, mess halls, chapels, theaters, laundry, administration buildings and other facilities were built on the mesa. Over 100 wooden buildings were built by mid 1943 and the base would eventually house thousands of Marines.
The Navy hired a civilian contractor from Los Angeles to do most of the construction. The government provided unlimited money and materials to complete the project ASAP. The navy found a way to get freshwater out to the mesa and the circle shows a large, elevated water tank.
This was one of the Marine Officer’s Quarters. Wow. Talk about location….
This is that same location in 2013. Wow. What a difference.
The Marines built a complete sewer system, a disposal plant and telephone and electrical systems suitable for a city twice the size of Goleta. This is the sewage disposal plant built on the bluffs between the lagoon and the ocean.
The sewer system was in the location of today’s UCSB Marine Biotechnology Laboratory and believe it or not, that little white building still stands right there.
In the midst of all the new UCSB Marine Science Institute buildings, old Building 465 is still proudly serving the university. Amazing to see the architecture of a time gone by mixed in with the new. Hopefully the university will keep this as an homage to the historic past of this area.
This U.S. Marines map from 1948 shows Building 465 right in the midst of the sewer system.
By 1962 not much had changed, and look close you can see Building 456 still hanging in there. The above photo shows another major change the Marines made that still exists. They built permanent dams at the three outlets of the waterway, which prevented incoming seawater and changed it from a slough into a lagoon.
At the location circled, you can still find something else left behind by the Marines.
The Marines built a shooting range right on the point to practice their marksmanship. This classic photo shows some Marines using the scenic skeet range right on Pelican Point.
This map of the Marine base shows the location of the skeet range and the road that went out to it, appropriately named Skeet Range Road.
Remnants of used clay pigeons used for skeet shooting can still be found on the ground out at the point.
Some see it is as junk, some see it as physical evidence of our history. We’ve heard rumors the university has plans to clean it all up…
After WWII ended, the Marines moved out, and Goleta Point became the new home of the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Probably the first Santa Barbara College students that got to set foot on their future campus were the ROTC students. In 1950, they were allowed to hold shooting practice at the former Marine shooting range on the point. Passing boaters were given fair warning by this little article in the paper. Hopefully the boaters saw it…
Lots of work needed to be done to change the Marine base to a college campus, and the construction began immediately. One of the first things they did was pump seawater in to the lagoon to maintain its levels and prevent smelly conditions and fish kills during dry periods. Evidently the stench was occasionally a problem for the Marines.
This beautiful color illustration of the future campus was drawn up by architects in 1950 to help visualize how the campus could possibly look one day.
This map, also from 1950, showing the location of the new campus, clearly labeled the point as Pelican Point.
These were the first new building to be built. Plans were published in the paper regularly, updating the public on the progress of the new school. The move was controversial, since Goleta was considered “way out in the sticks” back then. Maps were also published in the paper, showing how to get out to the new remote campus.
The new campus was a huge barren mesa with nothing but Marine barracks. You can see the two new buildings under construction at the top of this 1952 photo and there’s that water tower again. By 1954, the first students arrived, but it wasn’t an easy transition from the beautiful Santa Barbara Riviera campus to this very desolate “no frills” environment. There were plenty of problems to work out, but everyone knew, the location was everything.
Right off the bat, the media was emphasizing the beaches. Newspaper articles raved about the “four separate beach areas” for the students, and how they would all would be so suntanned!
Photo shoots became common on the point, showing what a great new campus Santa Barbara College was. It was first called University of California Santa Barbara College and the name wasn’t technically UCSB until 1958. Either way, no mention of the fact that it was in Goleta.
These Gauchos casually perched on the edge of Pelican Point were looking forward to a full semester of tanning….
Then in 1955, just the second school year at the exciting new location, university officials were distressed to learn that Richfield Oil would be drilling for oil right on their new campus! In a shrewd business move, Thomas Bishop had never sold the mineral rights to the federal government when they bought his land for the Marine base. Bishop decided to take advantage of that fact and worked out a deal with Richfield to explore the area for a gusher. Here it’s called Goleta Point.
Since the university officials were so upset by the decision to drill on their brand new campus, the oil company agreed to put a skirt around the derrick, to make it just a little less of an eyesore.
The skirt was a green tarp with scarlet trim that helped cover the big rig, but they couldn’t conceal all the trucks and men working 24 hours a day around the well. It almost looks like a lighthouse from this angle…
While the well at Goleta Point never had a gusher, it provided enough oil to keep it there until 1960, much to the chagrin of the university.
Meanwhile, the construction continued nonstop to transform the new campus into more of a modern university.
And the enrollment kept growing. Who wouldn’t want to go to a school right on the beach, even if it wasn’t really finished being built yet? These cool coeds seem to be ok with it.
By the mid 1950s, surfing became a very popular pastime throughout California, and the fun waves at Goleta Point were just another great reason to go to UCSB.
With all the naturally beautiful distractions around, it was probably difficult to maintain good grades…
Around this time is when the name slowly but surely changed from Goleta Point to College Point. But students weren’t the only ones surfing. Plenty of locals got the surfing bug as well.
By the end of the 1950s, the Marine’s water tank we pointed out earlier finally came down. Judging by the shape of the tank, it looks like it was not a planned removal.
The university liked to hype up their big plans for the college on Goleta Point with lots of artists conceptions and quotes like, “An inspiration as the outstanding college of the future”. News stories were released every time a new building was finished, just to update the public on the progress.
Here was how it actually looked in 1960. Not that inspirational. But still, “California’s seashore campus”.
But to Mother Nature, it was still just Fish Rocks. This article from 1959 highlighted the fact that there was still plenty of wild life just off shore with little Bernie Acquistapace gently petting a dead shark on the head.
The early 1960s brought more and more students and the beach got more and more popular.
Local businesses took advantage of College Point’s popularity by featuring it in advertisements. Note the two surfers and the peeling wave in the background for this Van Wyk’s Volkswagon advertisement.
And check out this Ott’s ad featuring a funky little lifeguard tower, a groovy ice chest and a very interested young man ogling in the background.
In the early 1960s you can see the new buildings beginning to outnumber the ugly old wooden barracks, slowly transforming the military base into a university. Notice how empty Isla Vista was at this point.
But to their credit, the university left the bluffs at the point untouched, embracing the natural beauty of the Goleta Point. This photo from 1960 looks a lot like it still looks today.
By the early 1960s, surfing had become extremely popular. New technology had made the boards lighter weight and they became available everywhere. Surfers of all ages took to the waves. Goleta Point became known as a legitimate surf spot and local surfers referred to it as College Point. This is Pete Andreini eager to try out his new board. His brother Marc Andreini would become a world famous surfboard shaper, and like a lot of other people, they both got their start right here at College Point.
The Marine sewage plant was replaced by the first marine biology lab and you can see the brand new dorms on the bluff in the background. But to more and more locals, the real attraction was the beach and the surf at College Point.
There was no public parking lot at College Point, so local surfers like young Mike Furner would get dropped off at Goleta Beach and make the long trek up to the point with his long, longboard. Notice the little palm trees along the road that are all grown up today.
The popularity of surfing was exploding into a pop culture phenomenon. Surf movies, surf music and surf magazines were everywhere, and Goleta was caught up in the middle of it. The surf spots in the Santa Barbara area were getting national attention, and in 1963, this article came out. It went into great detail describing the waves at College Point and Campus Beach at UCSB in Goleta. Surfers and college students across the nation were envious.
This article was probably the first time the name for the surf spot inside the cove at College Point was officially labeled “Poles”. The name came from these poles that marked where the intake for sea water was. The sea water was used for the marine laboratory and to keep the lagoon full. Installed in 1956, the intakes were constantly getting plugged with sand, so in 1965, wells were dug to provide the needed salt water. The area is still called Poles today, even without any poles around.
Plenty of fresh ocean water was needed to fill the needs of the beautiful new Marine Laboratory that was built on the bluff in 1964.
In the midst of all the new excitement of surfing, the sport was almost made illegal at the campus beach in 1963. Throngs of local surfers were making campus beach their regular hang out, and a few bad apples were giving them all a bad name. Vandalism became a problem on the new campus, and the news was already full of stories of the same problem throughout southern California. Homeowners at Rincon Point complained if they left their patio furniture out at night, it would be used as firewood for the surfer’s bonfires. Some affluent beach communities in the Los Angeles area that suffered from vandalism and general bad behavior had initiated a “surfing license” that was required to surf the waves, and they made it illegal to surf on certain beaches. The idea quickly spread to other beachfront communities and the vandalism on the UCSB campus provoked the Santa Barbara County Supervisors to take similar action.
In 1963, the County Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance that “prohibited the use of surfboards 200 yards seaward of the mean high tide line at any beach designated as a bathing beach”. Literally the next day, a teenage surfer drowned at campus beach, which further justified the decision for the county. In addition to the vandalism, the amount of boards in the water at the campus beach had become hazardous to surfers and swimmers alike. One campus policeman was quoted as saying, ” hundreds of surfers were infesting the area” and that swimmers were “menaced by surfboards”. This young man’s death further emphasized that fact.
As a response to all the regulations and closures down south, surfers had organized the U.S. Surfing Association (USSA) to represent themselves, and they showed up at the Santa Barbara meetings to defend the Goleta surfer’s rights. They attended several meetings wearing suits and ties and spoke eloquently about their rights to use the beaches, pointing out what a healthy sport surfing was, and how the vast majority of surfers were upstanding citizens. They labeled the ordinance as “anti-surfer” and called it discrimination. The Santa Barbara County Surf Club president said that College Point was one of the best surf spots on the entire west coast and should be set aside as a “surfers only” beach.
The debate raged on for weeks, with passionate letters appearing in the paper everyday with opposing sides of the argument.
While the county had passed the ordinance, no action would be taken until they designated a “bathing beach”, and due to all the controversy, they hesitated to do that. As a compromise, the county designated Campus Beach as a swimming only beach, and the rocky College Point as a surfing only area, but it was never enforced and the whole fight was soon forgotten about.
And so, just a few years after opening their new campus, a rift between the university and locals had begun. Fortunately, the surfing rules faded away quickly, but hard feelings between local surfers and UCSB would linger on.
In 1965, these temporary information kiosks were installed at the entrances to the university to help people find their way around campus. One longtime local surfer remembers the people manning the kiosks would not allow visitors with a surfboard in the car admittance. Then in November of 1965, they decided to start charging visitors to come on campus.
Permanent kiosks were later built to collect the 25 cent fee for a temporary parking pass that would be taped to the inside of the windshield. Reportedly the money was to be used to build more parking facilities for the growing campus.
In May of 1965, we first find evidence of the new name for the point. Local surfboard shaper and surfing expert, Doug Roth, called the surf spot Campus Point in his monthly newspaper article called “Surf Syndicate”. The article talked about local surfers, contest results, surf conditions, etc.
In another 1965 article he went into detail about many local spots, and he gave a detailed description of all the breaks at Campus Point. His column would continue to call it Campus Point moving forward, firmly planting the name in everyone’s mind.
This photo from January 1967 gives a graphic explanation of why so many people like to surf at this point.
As Goleta grew, so did the university. This postcard shows how the point looked in the 1970s, almost completely built out.
Murder came to Campus Point in July of 1970. Three young men that were passing through Goleta on their way up to San Francisco decided to spend the Fourth of July in Isla Vista. After watching the fireworks with a large group of people in I.V., they wandered down the beach to Campus Point, where they decided to sleep on the beach. The next morning, a passerby noticed them from the bluff by the marine lab while he checked surf. He went down to the beach for a closer look and was horrified by the gruesome scene. He ran to the nearest phone and called the police. Victims of a brutal attack, they had been bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly, but not robbed. Two were dead on the scene and the third was rushed to Goleta Valley Community Hospital in critical condition. The one victim survived, but the case was never solved. In 2005 the mother of one of the victims had the case re-opened, but so far the murderers are still unidentified.
In 1971, UCSB grew concerned over the rapid rate of erosion that was happening along the bluffs at Campus Point. In an effort to keep their lagoon intact and protect the marine biology building, the university decided to dump huge rocks below the bluffs. Some of the rocks weighed as much as four tons.
Concerned students watch as bulldozers put the boulders in place. A short concrete groin was also built at the point that was made very low, in order to keep it hidden under the sand most of the time.
In this 2013 photo, the arrow shows the concrete groin. We always wondered about that, now we know that was built in 1971.
Here it is in 2025, looking a little tired and weathered from decades of fighting against nature.
The concrete groin and the rip rap, armoring the point.
The rip rap, still holding strong since 1971. Seems like they should dump some of this under the bluffs of Isla Vista.
The large rock barrier can been seen clearly at the bottom of the cliffs in this 1972 aerial.
The huge boulders are often used by surfers as a place to stash their stuff while surfing.
In 1975, a new feature appeared on the campus beach. A small pumphouse was built to house a 35 foot well that provided an even more reliable saltwater supply. This greatly increased the amount of saltwater available to the marine biology lab and the lagoon. Given the recent problems they had with erosion, it seemed like a risky location to build a structure….
And, not surprisingly, in 1985 the erosion became a problem again. El Nino surf had battered the coast for a couple years previous, so about 40 feet of beach had vanished. This put the new pumphouse in harm’s way and the manmade barrier separating the lagoon and the ocean at risk of opening. Sandbags were put in place while “officials haggled” about what to do. The pumphouse housed millions of dollars worth of equipment and was crucial to the survival of the Seawater Biotechnology Laboratory. A UCSB Geologist was quoted as saying the pumphouse should, “never have been put where it is”. The sandbags worked, the surf settled down, and all was forgotten.
In 1998, mother nature made her presence know again. High tides and larger than normal surf were taking a toll on the point, and the small strip of landfill between the lagoon and the beach was all but washed away. Despite all that, the university moved forward with construction to replace the small pumphouse with a larger, more efficient pumphouse! Seems crazy to be building something new when the ocean is already nipping at your heels, but that’s exactly what they did.
They managed to get it built, and that is the building we see there today.
In this 2000 image you can see the precarious position it sits in.
And here is the new pumphouse in 2024, hanging on for dear life once again on a man made strip of land that Mother Nature seems to insist should be removed. Before the Marines came, the lagoon was open to the sea.
Perhaps it will be again someday….In the words of UCSB Geologist Robert Norris in 1985, “If we insist on building things on the beach, we are going to pay a price”.
The late great Arthur Sylvester did a fantastic job of capturing the volatility of our coastline on his webpage, UCSB Beaches Over 30 Years. It’s worth a look to see the waxing and waning of our beaches through the years.
In 1991, the latest craze once again caused a stir at Campus Point. Jet Skis became very popular for recreation, and the easiest place to launch a jet ski was Goleta Beach. From there, they loved to zip around at Campus Point, making a lot of noise and possibly endangering swimmers and surfers. A group of citizens started a petition to ban them all together, while the county and the university argued over who should be policing these new toys. When threatened with a complete ban, responsible jet skiers formed a club and basically policed themselves, much like the surfers of a few decades earlier. The problem soon went away.
Campus Point is still a popular beach for all walks of life, whether there’s sand or not.
Countless kids have learned to surf in the waves off Campus Point and that continues to this day, whether there’s surf or not.
Like any great surf spot, it can get a little crowded at times, with beginners still learning the rules of etiquette.
And when there are good waves, some of the areas best surfers show up. Back to enjoy the break that they learned on.
When the swells hit just right, it transforms into a world class break, attracting professionals like this guy, Kelly Slater in 2007.
Inevitably, a peanut gallery of looky-loos and photographers will form on the bluffs above to enjoy the show.
So there you have it, a little history of Sismikiw, Punta de Pantoja, Point Salinas, Pelican Point, Goleta Point, Fish Rocks, Rincon Point, College Point and finally Campus Point. Nine different names for one point, and we may have missed a couple!
Whatever you call it, it’s a very important part of a very special place that we call, the Good Land.
If you want to see more photos of surfing at Campus Point through the years, go to www.goletasurfing.com and type “campus point” in the search bar. You’ll be there for hours…
Magnificent!
Fascinating, as always. I really REALLY enjoyed this, Tom. Thank you so very much.
Please note: About 14 of your photos didn’t post, toward the end of this article, beginning with the building of the new pumphouse for Marine Biology Lab
Try again, all photos should load normally.
-ed
Thank you, Edhat Staff. Much appreciate your speedy reponse time.
Very cool. What an interesting history. Thank you once again, Tom.
Thank you for this wonderful history. I love the close, “So there you have it, a little history of Sismikiw, Punta de Pantoja, Point Salinas, Pelican Point, Goleta Point, Fish Rocks, Rincon Point, College Point and finally Campus Point. Nine different names for one point, and we may have missed a couple!”
You put a ton of research into this. I will be referring friends and family to this history for a long time. Again, Thanks!