La Graciosa, California

La Graciosa is a former human settlement in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. La Graciosa was the first village established in the Santa Maria River valley.[1] It was located southwest of Orcutt.[1] The town was named for Laguna Graciosa, a nearby lagoon so called because Spanish explorers thought it was lovely.[2] The town was on land that had been Rancho Guadalupe.[2] A man named Patrick O'Neil opened a stage station and store on the site around 1868.[2] The stagecoach route had originally gone through Foxen Canyon but eventually switched to the valley of Los Alamos, with a stop at La Graciosa.[3] The settlement had a post office and a school.[2] However, in 1877 H. M. Newhall came into possession of the land and "served suits of ejectment to all the inhabitants."[2]

La Graciosa schools had 52 students in approximately 1882.[3]

See also

References
  1. Hoover, Mildred Brooke; Rensch, Hero Eugene; Rensch, Ethel Grace; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California (3rd ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. p. 423.
  2. "The Short Life of La Graciosa". This is our valley / Compiled by the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. Written by Vada F. Carlson. Ethel-May Dorsey, editor-in-chief. Retrieved 2024-01-22 – via HathiTrust.
  3. "California's wonderful corner : true stories for children from the history of the Santa Barbara region / by Walker A. Thompkins ; illustrated by Joseph Knowles ..." HathiTrust. pp. 88, 90. Retrieved 2024-01-23.


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