Early Years (1700s)

The Santa Barbara Mission was dedicated on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, after whom the city and Mission were named. Interestingly enough, Saint Barbara is the patron saint of masons and stone cutters. The first Freemason in recorded history to visit the Santa Barbara area was English botanist Sir Joseph Banks in 1793. He was on a voyage with British Naval Captain George Vancouver as part of his exploration of the Pacific. This was the same year George Washington laid the cornerstone of the US capital building in a Masonic Ceremony.

Sir Joseph Banks

Bro. Banks noted he found the small town of Santa Barbara to be more civilized and beautiful than any other of the Spanish coastal settlements he had visited. He remarked that most of the ceramic tableware used by those living at the Presidio and Mission were made in England.