Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara

El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara, also known as the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, is a former military installation in Santa Barbara. The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Second Military District in California. In modern times, the Presidio serves as a significant tourist attraction, museum and an active archaeological site as part of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. The park contains an original adobe structure called El Cuartel, which is the second oldest surviving building in California. The Presidio was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Only two portions of the original presidio quadrangle survive to this day: the Cañedo Adobe, and the remnants of a two-room soldiers quarters, called El Cuartel. The site’s operator reconstructed the rest of the site, with the most recent construction—two rooms in the northwest corner of the site—finished in May 2006. The reconstruction is ongoing, with the construction of two more rooms in the northwest corner beginning in December 2007.

The site of the Presidio was chosen by Felipe de Neve, the first governor of Las Californias. Construction began on April 21. By the next year, a temporary facility had been completed. The Presidio was built as a fortress, and therefore included a strong outer wall with an open parade ground on all sides affording clear visibility. Several devastating earthquakes in the early 19th century destroyed much of the structure. In 1963, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation was founded, with the primary mission of restoring the Presidio.