Buellton, California

 city  Add category

 Upload a photo

Buellton is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It had a population of 4,825 inhabitants at the 2010 census.
www.cityofbuellton.com/

Buellton came into being in January of 1918 when a newly built bridge was opened across the Santa Ynez River. This bridge led to an intersection with the "Missions Highway" and would become the newly established route of the Coast Highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The route was later number Highway 101 as we know it today, and the Missions Highway became Highway 246.

The name "Buellton" was gleaned from the family name of Rufus Thompson Buell upon whose land the town was established. Rufus or "R.T." Buell came to California from Vermont in search of gold in 1849. He eventually made his way down the coast after his plans for striking it rich in the gold fields did not pan out.

He did do well as a dairy farmer and bought property in the Santa Ynez Valley to expand his herd of dairy cows. This property encompassed approximately 17,000 acres of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant. To put the scale of this ranch in perspective today it includes all of Solvang and Buellton as well as more property to the north of Buellton.

A severe drought forced Buell to sell 11,000 acres of his ranch in the 1870's. This property would later be bought by the Danish American Company to establish a colony called "Solvang". The remaining ranch was subdivided into seven parcels among his heirs upon his death in 1915. It was upon his wife and daughters portions of the ranch that the town was laid out around 1917 in anticipation of the opening of the new bridge.

As soon as the highway opened a service town sprung up at the intersection with the Buell Tavern on one corner and Knud Moeller's service station on the other. It did not take long for more businesses to follow as a steady stream of highway travelers began making their way up the coast in their automobiles.