Tag: History

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Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara

Stearns Wharf, the oldest working wood wharf in California, was built in 1872 by John Peck Stearns to facilitate the transfer of cargo and people from ships to shore.

Up until the 1870s, Santa Barbara was virtually cut off from the outside world by its natural barriers of the ocean and the mountains. In 1867, John Peck Stearns moved to Santa Barbara and opened a lumberyard at the foot of State Street. Mr. Stearns noted that the town needed a long wharf so ocean ships could tie up at low tide.

In 1872, with the financial backing of Colonel William Welles Hollister, Stearns completed the Wharf and Santa Barbara’s isolation from the outside world was over.

The Wharf has endured since 1872, making it the oldest working wooden wharf in California. It is 2,300 feet long and has an area of 3.8 acres supported by 2,307 pilings.

Now there are three restaurants and a shellfish market on the wharf. Tourist shops, a marine museum, and a Channel Islands exhibit are also here.

Some history facts include:

In 1878, A Chinese junk crashed into the Wharf during a severe storm, destroying 1,000 feet of decking. Before this damage could be repaired, the first tornado in the City’s history struck on New Year’s Eve, causing even more damage to the Wharf. In 1887, due to the heavy and regular tread of two hundred Civil War Veterans, the Wharf almost collapsed which would have thrown 3,000 people into the ocean. That same year marked the arrival of the railroad into Santa Barbara, signaling the decline of ship traffic.

In response to the arrival of the railroad, J.P. Stearns built a 1,450 foot wye onto the Wharf to carry a railroad spur so that lumber could be quickly transferred from ships onto flat cars. The wye proved too expensive to maintain and was abandoned, after being battered by more than a decade of storms. A small portion of the wye remains today, housing the Sea Center marine museum and the Nature Conservancy exhibit hall.


In 1921, the Wharf Narrowly escaped destruction by fire. The 600 room Potter Hotel burned down and a 50-mile-an hour gale sent sparks which ignited the pilings on the Wharf and palm trees along West Beach.

In 1973, the famed Harbor Restaurant was destroyed by a spectacular pre-dawn fire, closing the Wharf. The Wharf was reopened eight years later.

In February 1983, the Santa Barbara area was hit by a “100 year storm” which heavily damaged the Wharf and Harbor. Damage to the Wharf was estimated at over half a million dollars. In December 1987, another fierce storm struck and a derelict barge and fishing boat broke free from their moorings east of the Wharf and were hurled into the Wharf, along with their mooring balls. About 30 pilings were knocked out, causing the Wharf to sag near the beach and closing it for one week.  https://stearnswharf.org/history/

For more places to explore in Santa Barbara, check out https://travelsandescapes.net/

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Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral

Notre Dame de Reims

It’s not uncommon for cities in France to have more than one church or even more than one cathedral. In fact, we sort of expect to see different sizes each with their own amazing features. It is always humbling when we realize the time frame in which they were built. We are not talking about the last 50 years, either.

Some have weathered well. Others, not so much. Some were casualties of a world war or some group fighting against another one. Still, some remain almost unblemished.

We visited tiny towns with huge churches whose steeples dominated their skylines. Other cities and their skylines were dotted with various sizes of steeples, turrets, and rising columns full of stained glass.

We had been visiting several churches and cathedrals in different cities and towns in the Champagne area of France. We didn’t need to travel far to find different architecture, yet similar looks.  

One, in particular, captured our hearts. Notre Dame de Reims…

This cathedral has been an important part of French history. It’s also classified by UNESCO as a world heritage site. But, that’s not all we loved about it.

First a little history…

  • It was built between 1211 and 1275
  • For 800 years it is where the kings of France were crowned, 25 of them
  • It is the second cathedral, after Chartes, with the largest number of statues and statuettes. If you want, you can count 2,300 of them.
  • The two impressive rose windows are imposing…and stunning as the light shines through them
  • There are original stained-glass windows from the 13th Century and ones from as recent as 2015
  • 13th Century Gothic architecture is mixed with more recent architecture due to bombings and destruction during both World Wars

Okay, many cathedrals have their own history. This one just happens to have more than others.

As are many cathedrals, this one was huge inside. How huge?

  • Total length of the cathedral is 500 feet. Notre Dame de Paris is 425 feet long.
  • Height in the nave is 125 feet
  • Towers are almost 270 feet tall
  • The outside spire is about 290 feet
  • Inside the total floor area is close to 22,000 square feet
  • Diameter of the west front Rose Window is 41 feet
  • Total square feet of windows is 12,800 square feet

No wonder it took us over an hour just to walk around and admire the spectacular interior.

Some favorites during our visit…

  • Three stained glass windows in the axial chapel that were produced in 1974 by Marc Chagall
  • The first Chagall window includes the theme of the Tree of Jesse
  • The central Chagall window is the sacrifice of Isaac
  • The right Chagall window includes some of the great times in Reims history, including the baptism of Clovis and the coronation of Saint Louis and Charles VII
  • We often see one magnificent rose window. Here, there are two. Looking up, each one did not seem to be over 40 feet across.
  • Light streaming in through all the windows showcased this magnificent cathedral, giving us a sense of peace

If you find yourself in or near Reims, France, this is definitely worth the time to visit. Its beauty is hard to match.

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Verdun…History Up Close

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun started on February 21, 1916. It ended on December 16, 1916.

That’s 300 days and 300 nights of combat without a break.

This was the “War to End All Wars.”

However…There were over 300,000 dead and missing and 400,000 French and German soldiers wounded. The Battle of Verdun was a frontal assault, the most murderous in history. Over 65 million artillery shells were fired by both sides. Nine villages were completely destroyed.

In a few words, that summarizes the entire World War I.

What happened? The planned German attack on Verdun was supposed to crush and bleed France to death. France had 20 major forts and 40 smaller ones around Verdun. These protected the eastern border of France and Germany was going to overtake the entire border. It was supposed to be quick and go as planned by the Germans.

About 140,000 German troops started the attack, supported by artillery guns that fired 2,500,000 shells. On February 21, 1916, 1,000 German artillery guns fired on a six-mile stretch of the French front.

Flame throwers were used for the first time to help the Germans advance the eight miles. By February 25, they had captured over 10,000 French prisoners.

It didn’t end there…

The French fought back. French officers organized a motorized supply chain on a scale never seen or used before. They transported 90,000 soldiers, 6,000 vehicles, and 25,000 tons of supplies to the front via a 37-mile dirt road.

Perhaps, like me, you learned all this in school. Again, perhaps like me, those were just facts and figures to be memorized and then either forgotten or never thought of in real life.

We visited this part of France and some of the battlefields of Verdun. It brought reality to us.

Approaching from the east, we drove through peaceful countryside. Before reaching any of the monuments, acres of green fields, dense forests, hills, and valleys everything seemed so calm and serene. Farmland, animals grazing, and tree trunks all hiding remnants of an ugly war so many years ago.

Then, we noticed things differently. The small hills and craters were not what they seemed at first. These are leftover remnants of the tens of millions of artillery shells fired here. As we came closer to the battlefield areas, we could see what had happened here. The green, moss covered mounds are really shell craters left when artillery shells exploded. The valleys are where battles took place. These valleys, actually trenches used for fighting, are small and terrifyingly close to each other.

We visited Fort de Douaumont, a hilltop fort constructed in 1885 to house France’s strategic command center. German troops even used it at various times. Soldiers were protected here. A thick layer of sand muffled explosions and the concrete walls were seven feet thick.

During the climb to the bombed-out area above the Fort, a light rain started. Somehow, this seemed appropriate. Once at the top, strong winds buffeted us around as we walked through the craters and past the round, iron structures which held the machine gun turrets. Guns could rise up out of these structures and turn slowly, firing on the enemy. The enemy never had a chance.

Looking out over the craters, past the gun turrets, and into the trenches, it was impossible to imagine fighting here. It’s something we will never forget.

Leaving the fort area, we visited the National Cemetery with more than 16,000 graves. It’s beautiful and sobering, like national cemeteries are.

Overlooking the cemetery is the Douaumont Ossuary, a memorial holding the unidentified remains of more than 100,000 soldiers. Both French and German are recognized.

A central chapel offers a place to reflect. Massive hallways, 150 feet long, on either side of the center area are bathed in orange light. Twenty-two alcoves house the tombs that represent the 46 sectors of the Battle of Verdun. Around 4,000 names of fallen soldiers are inscribed on the walls and ceiling.

The ossuary’s 150-foot tower rises above the countryside, the cemetery, and the battlefields. All of it brought history back to us, over 100 years later.

Again…almost impossible to grasp the severity of being here 300 days and nights, fighting for your life as your buddy next to you dies.

This was a sobering visit, yet an important piece of history to see in person. I would recommend visiting here, even if you are not a history buff.

If You Go: Verdun is about 2 ½ hours east of Paris’ Charles De Gaulle airport.