Mission Historical Park is a 10-acre park (4.0 ha) located to the east of the Santa Barbara Mission in Santa Barbara, California. The park hosts a large open grassy area, the A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden, a fountain, hiking trails, a variety of sycamore and native oak trees, a historic olive grove dedicated to World War I veterans, remains of tannery vats, a pottery, gristmill, and a historic reservoir and aqueduct system. The park and the Mission were designated as a California State Historical Landmark on July 12, 1939 (No. 309).^[2]

The park is divided by Alameda Padré Serra, a major access roadway^[3] that has an Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) of about 9,900 vehicles.^[4] The perimeter of the park's 8-acre southern area extends from the intersection of East Los Olivos St. and Laguna St. north to Alameda Padré Serra, and east to Plaza del Rubio. The smaller northern 2-acre portion occupies the area between Alameda Padré Serra, Mountain Drive and Mission Ridge Road at the park's northern terminus.

Following the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake and post-restoration efforts made to the Santa Barbara Mission, the Franciscan Fathers of California offered to sell a 7.8 acre parcel of land extending from Laguna and East Los Olivos Streets north to Alameda Padré Serra. After securing private contributions, on June 30, 1928, the City Council agreed to purchase the land for $37,000 (to be paid over several years). By 1939, a total sum of $53,068.80 was paid in full (which included interest and other expenses). A master plan was approved by the Board of Park Commissioners in 1940.^[5]

In 1948, the remainder of the land comprising the present day park (the 2-acre parcel between Alameda Padré Serra and Mission Ridge Road) was gifted to the city by the Franciscan Fathers.^[1][5]

In 1954, the City developed a plan indicating a straightened Los Olivos Street through the park. The local citizenry and a number of organizations "vigorously objected" to the proposal. In March of that year, the City Council changed the name of the park from Mission Plaza (or Park) to Mission Historical Park, which had been suggested by Miss Pearl Chase five years previous.^[5]

By 1970, the City Park Commissioners once again called for a redesign of the park and surrounding streets.^[5]

The A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden is an accredited show garden of the All-America Rose Selections (AARS).^[6] The garden was initiated in 1955 with a donation of 500 pedigree rose bushes. In 1959, the non-profit Santa Barbara Rose Society was established.^[7] By 1961 the condition of the rose garden had deteriorated such that the Rose Society requested to sponsor it. In the following years, new bushes were established. In 1971, the Little Garden Club installed a fragrance garden for the blind.^[5] By the late 1970s, California Proposition 13 had substantially reduced funding for the Parks Department and thereby eliminated the full-time rose gardener's position. Remaining volunteers were unable to adequately maintain the garden and it hence deteriorated. In 1980, there had been considerations to replace the rose beds with tennis courts. However, in 1982 a committee was formed to save the rose garden. By 1984, the Virginia Firth Wade Endowment Fund donated $35,000 of the $51,000 needed to restore the garden on the condition that it be renamed; the A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden.^[7]

Today the garden holds over 1,500 plants sits^[8] and serves as one of over 130 recognized competitive demonstration rose gardens in the US, hosting a variety of roses including a number of All-America Rose Selections (AARS) winners.^[9] An annual $5,000 grant from the Virginia Firth Wade Endowment Fund assists with the garden's maintenance, which includes; a part-time gardener, watering, grooming, and regular fertilization.^[7]

The garden is often utilized for wedding ceremonies in two locations; the open grassy section along its western side (which accommodates up to 200 people), or at a smaller area on the northern end of the garden along Plaza del Rubio Street (which accommodates up to 50 people).^[8]

The park's grassy area encompasses roughly half of the original southern 8-acre parcel that was sold to the City in 1928.

During 1840, a three-acre orchard consisting of pear, apple, apricot, fig and other fruit trees existed about 100-yards in front of the Mission (i.e. the present day location of the grassy area which abuts East Los Olivos Street).^[10] By the early 1900s, the orchard had diminished considerably.

"The fruit trees gradually died or were removed, until fifteen years ago there were only three standing. Now there is but one, which is still vigorous, though its bark is moss covered and its branches are much overgrown."

— Hawley, Walter A., The Early Days of Santa Barbara California, 1909

The orchard was surrounded by a six-sided wall reinforced with "heavy buttresses of masonry". A portion of the northern section and eastern corner of the wall were still in place during 1910–20.^[10]

Much of the historical infrastructure within the park had been constructed by Chumash people who were often subject to the California Missions under the exploitative Mission industry system of the period. Some of the facilities and their functions are further described below.

• Commemoration plaque for the rose garden
• View of the Santa Barbara Mission from the Rose Garden
• "Just Joey" (AARS 1972) cultivar rose within the garden
• The ruins of the grist mill, 1898
• The ruins of the grist mill, 2017
• Northerly view of a Santa Ynez peak from the park.
• Plaque adjacent to the historic waterworks infrastructure
• The Pottery located just east of E. Los Olivos Street
• Western view of the upper reservoir
• Lower reservoir adjacent to the historic grist mill ruins (right), 2015
• Historic plaque documenting the 1827 grist mill
• Unidentified historic building foundation within the park (possibly a guardhouse)^[2]