Santa Barbara High School’s (SBHS) campus celebrates its centennial this year, marking 100 years since students first started attending classes at the location in 1924.
The school, which is among the oldest high schools in California, boasts a rich history, said Helen Murdoch, president of SBHS’s nearly 50-year-old alumni association.
“People have generations and generations of their families go to this school,” Murdoch said.
Although SBHS was established in 1875 at the corner of Cota and Anacapa streets — making next year the 150th anniversary for the school as a whole — it changed locations a couple of times before settling in its current digs at 700 East Anapamu Street.
The previous locations could not keep up with Santa Barbara’s booming population. Between 1900 and 1920, the school’s enrollment quadrupled, leaving its former De la Vina campus bursting at the seams with 500 students in a building built for 300. After securing the bonds necessary for the big move, they chose 29 acres on Anapamu Street, intending to build the school in an area that was considered remote (once upon a time).
In June 1924, the Anapamu campus’s newly built auditorium hosted its first graduation for 130 students from the De la Vina campus. That same year, on September 2, the main building opened its doors for the first cohort to ever roam its halls. A few decades and land acquisitions later, SBHS had expanded to the more than 40-acre campus that it is today.
The Anapamu Campus Centennial Celebrations will be marked when the SBHS Alumni Association hangs banners announcing the centennial at the entrances to the school. In addition, they will have a Campus Beautification Day for the public on Sunday, June 2, 2024, as well as plan to participate in this year’s Fiesta.
