Children’s Park Description
Children’s Park is one of 25 parks in the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District and is approximately one acre in size. Built in an area of Isla Vista densely populated with families, Children's Park has historically contained sandy play equipment and benches. A small lawn is used for gatherings and family events. This is one of four parks that offer play equipment in the district for children. The last major renovations to the park occurred in 1997.
Children’s recreation program was created to meet the needs of the underserved community of Isla Vista on a weekly basis, and also serves as the departure location for hundreds of field trips per year.
Unfortunately, the lack of funding for maintenance means this important park has fallen into disrepair.
For more information about the project and the planned improvements to the park, please visit our FAQ page here.
CHILDREN’S PARK HISTORY
1956 - 1961: The park appears in historic aerials for the first time. Housing was built around the park in 1961.
1961 – 1965: The Children’s Park we know today is fully realized by 1965 with all adjacent buildings also complete. At this point Picasso (the Picasso Bike Path) is a street that connects all the way through from Camino Pescadero to Camino del Sur.
1965 – January 1978: Large trees are visible by 1978 and lined across the “front” of the park along Camino Del Sur. In later photos these trees are very large and appear to be Eucalyptus (1995).
March 22, 1978: The County of Santa Barbara transfers ownership to Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District. The cul-de-sac adjacent to the Picasso bike trail is also constructed during this time.
1980 – 1983: Construction of a playground in the current park configuration takes place.
1997: Last major renovations to the park including the restroom which is housed by the larger recreation storage building.
LAND OCCUPATION HISTORY
Early History
The area was initially inhabited by Chumash Indian Anisq’oyo’ tribe. The Anisq’Oyo’ Park that borders Embarcadero Hall carries the name of the indigenous people of the Isla Vista mesa.
1800s: Pueblo Land Grant and Ranches
The Isla Vista mesa was included in the Rancho de los Dos Pueblos land grant given to Nicolas Augustus Henry Den in 1842. (Lodise). In 1863, Den became ill and died, leaving his land to his many children. The administrator of the Den estate illegally sold the land to William Welles Hollister while the Den children were minors. Alfonso Den and his siblings hired the lawyer Thomas B. Bishop, to sue William Welles Hollister in 1876 over their father’s land. Bishop retained a large portion of the better land as payment for his legal services, which is now known as “Bishop Ranch” (Wikipedia). The majority of the estate was sold, leaving only the Isla Vista mesa to be divided between two sons. This division of land is embodied today in the row of trees, known as the “Eucalyptus Curtain”, that separate UCSB’s main campus and present day Isla Vista (Lodise).
1920s: Real Estate Speculation
The land sold by the Den children was divided into three distinct subdivisions. John and Pauline Ilharreguy purchased a portion for $100 in gold. This central tract of land was given the name “Isla Vista” in 1925. They then gave the four streets closest to the bluff their names that remain today: Del Playa, Sabado Tarde, Trigo, and Pasado. The remaining two subdivisions of land spanned from current day Pasado to El Colegio. The portion spanning from today’s Camino Pescadero to UCSB’s Campus was named “Ocean Terrace”. This land was owned by two Santa Barbara attorneys, one of whom is the namesake of the Robertson Gymnasium. The final portion of land spanning west from Camino Pescadero, owned by two Sisters, was named Orilla Del Mar. These subdivisions of the land were planned separately, which is reflected by the lack of continuity in the roads of the “Ocean Terrace” and “Orilla Del Mar” tracts of land. To this day, roads such as Picasso, Abrego, and El Greco, indicate this division of proprietorship in the early development of the land we now know as Isla Vista (Lodise 10). Much of the initial interest shown in these parcels of land was due to their proximity to the ocean. The uninhabited mesa was originally subdivided with the intent of developing it into a coastal resort community. This venture ultimately failed due to the amount of natural tar found on the beaches (Lodise 10). The prospect of oil reserves being accessible from Isla Vista properties was attractive. Signal Oil Co, purchased the majority of this land when oil was discovered to the west of Isla Vista in 1928 (Lodise). While the allure of the production of oil did not hold in Isla Vista, the value of these properties did increase overtime as resources like water, electricity, sewage, and other local amenities became available.
1950s: University Development
In 1954 the president of Signal Oil, Samuel Mosher, was appointed to the UC Board of Regents (Lodise). The year before, the UC Regents had purchased the portion of the Isla Vista mesa owned by the US Marine Air Base for $10. As the new UC campus developed, the UC regents decided to leave the residential section that is current day Isla Vista for private development. This significantly increased the value of all properties in Isla Vista, setting the wheels in motion for our community to develop into what we see today.
Sources
Lodise, Carmen. Isla Vista: A Citizen’s History. CreateSpace Publishing ed. S.I.: CreateSpace, 2008. Print.
Wikipedia contributors. "Isla Vista, California." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 May. 2015. Web. 10 Jun. 2015. https://localwiki.org/islavista/History_of_Isla_Vista
**As our team continues to learn about the historic cultural, land, and recreation uses of site, we welcome amendments to this section our site.
Please reach out with any comments or clarifications you would like to provide.