Photograph by Eugene Zelenko (thanks to my friends Nickolov family for generous help and company), CC BY-SA 4.0. Via
Wikimedia Commons.
US Post Office-Santa Barbara Main
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. 10 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1944.
From the record
“The Santa Barbara Main Post Office is a combined post office-federal office building in Santa Barbara, California. The post office is a prominent example of Mission Revival-influenced Art Deco design and is a significant building in the historic core of Santa Barbara.”
Wikipedia article Santa Barbara Main Post Office, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 38 National Register listings published here for Santa Barbara County · listed in 1985 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.85000138- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1944 to 1995
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
51 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19441995
Fires near this property
57 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 57 fires within 5 miles of US Post Office-Santa Barbara Main
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 16,294 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
35
Equipment and vehicle use
9
Smoking
3
Debris and open burning
3
Recreation and ceremony
2
Arson/incendiarism
1
Natural
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
Fireworks
1
Other causes
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
25 September 2017
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
2,000 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
22 September 2005
Other causes
under an acre
Los Padres National Forest
FLORES
10 September 2011
Natural
300 acres
Santa Barbara County Fire Department
not named
8 August 2006
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
4 workings within 5 miles of US Post Office-Santa Barbara Main: 2 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Magnesite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Santa Barbara, the town this property stands in, in 28 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 12 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 2 waterspout.
The reports record 3 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
A severe thunderstorm generate damaging microburst winds across the city of Santa Barbara. Thunderstorm wind gusts up to 80 MPH were reported. With such strong winds, widespread significant damage was reported, including many trees being uprooted. Along San Pascual Street, a high voltage power line was knocked down, resulting in major burn injuries for one male. At Stearns Wharf, numerous boats were washed ashore and one teenage female was injured.
The combination of dry vegetation and weak offshore winds helped fuel a wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest, north of the city of Santa Barbara. The Ogilvy Fire, started by sparks from weed cutting, burned over 4,200 acres of forest. One minor injury was reported.
Bands of showers produced intense rainfall rates across the Tea Fire burn area. Rainfall rates in excess of 0.50 inches per hours were reported. The intense showers produced mud and debris flows which forced the closure of East Mountain Drive south of the burn scar.
Strong thunderstorms generated gusty winds. In the community of Santa Barbara, a large tree was knocked down, striking a vehicle. No injuries were reported.
Significant flooding was reported along Highway 101 at the Castillo Street offramp. Vehicles were turning the wrong way to try to avoid the flooding. Eventually, both the onramp and offramp were closed.
Heavy showers produced mud and debris flows in and around the Tea, Gap and Jesusita Burn areas in southern Santa Barbara county. Automated rain gauges indicated rainfall rates as intense as 0.40 inches in 30 minutes. Per reports from the USGS, significant mud and debris flows quickly filled the catch basins.
A microburst developed in the community of Santa Barbara. The downburst occurred along West Haley Avenue between Bath and De La Vina Streets. Several flowering trees were toppled upon power lines and vehicles.
Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties ,Bands of thunderstorms moved in along the coast of southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego Counties. The strongest storms were in northern and central Orange County. Rainfall amounts ranged from a 0.25 to 0.50 inch of rain in 1 hour. Heavy rains, frequent lightning, small hail, and gusty winds were associated with the storms. Winds up to 35 mph were reported with some thunderstorms in Los Angeles and northern Orange Counties.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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