Los Alamos Price Ranch

Lost Almost in Los Alamos

By Curt Cragg

This artilce first appeared in the Valley Living section of the Santa Barbara News-Press on Friday, November 23, 2007. To subscribe, click

The engineers of the Pacific Coast Railway used to make a joke about the southern end of their narrow gauge rail line as they were heading into Los Alamos and Los Olivos. By the time they reached Los Alamos they were "Lost Almost" and at Los Olivos they said they were "Lost Altogether".

Today Los Alamos has been lost in time. Once a bustling western town at the hub of coastal transportation, there is little left to remind us of it's importance in the late 1800's. No doubt there was much fanfare when it was officially established in 1876, the 100 year anniversary of the United States of America. It's main street was named Centennial in recognition of this important date. Centennial street also represents the dividing line between two great ranchos that contributed land to the town, Rancho La Laguna and Rancho Los Alamos.

The initial purpose of the town was to provide a stagecoach stop along the coastal line as well as to provide commerce for the surrounding ranches. This was accomplished to great affect as livery stables, general merchandise stores and hotels began dotting the main street through town.

The arrival of the Pacific Coast Railway from San Luis Obispo in October of 1882 established Los Alamos as a transportation hub. Los Alamos became the southern terminus of the narrow gauge railway. That also made it an important stagecoach stop. Travelers would arrive by train and then take the stagecoach south to Santa Barbara to board the Southern Pacific trains.

The small railway in Los Alamos also provided a means of hauling vast amounts of grain and livestock to Port San Luis for shipping to San Francisco or Los Angeles. This opened new markets for the surrounding ranches and also provided a new inflow of goods to Los Alamos from the bigger cities.

For five years Los Alamos served as the southern terminus of the railway, until the line was extend further south to the newly established town of Los Olivos in 1887. There were plans to extend the line further to the town of Santa Ynez and eventually to Santa Barbara. However, these plans were never realized and Los Olivos would be the "end of the line" until 1935.

Although Los Alamos was no longer the terminus of the Pacific Coast Railway after 1887, the town still prospered to some extent until the early 1900's. In 1901 the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its north south route along the coast allowing most passengers to bypass the narrow gauge train and stagecoach connections of the late 1800's.

As the new century dawned Los Alamos slumbered along, as other parts of California developed considerably. The central coast valley's of Santa Barbara were mostly unspoiled as stage transportation gave way to the iron horse locomotives traveling along the coast. It wouldn't remain that way for too long, however, because of the soon to arrive horseless carriage.

The early horseless carriages chugged along the old stagecoach routes and arrived in the dusty western towns like Los Alamos, that once thrived with stagecoach and railroad business. At first these "motorists" weren't taken too seriously. Many assumed that these contraptions were just a passing fancy primarily serving as a toy for the rich and eccentric. Mechanically unreliable and barely able to make it over the rutted roads and streams, these motorized carriages hardly seemed like a viable transportation option, let alone the future of travel.

As it turned out, the automobile was being warmly embraced in Southern California, so much so, that these auto hobbyist's began a serious lobby for the development of "Good Roads". This lobby extended up the coast as the drivers began looking for new places to explore. There was also a developing competition to prove the reliability of new models by attempting to make the fastest run from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

The natural roadways for motorists were the along the early El Camino Real to the missions, which formed the foundation for the early stagecoach routes. In fact, one of the goals of the early automotive adventurers was a visit to the various missions along the route. This ultimately led through Los Alamos which enabled the sleepy town to reinvent itself as a service outlet for automobiles.

Small gas pumps appeared in front of the general stores. Livery stables and blacksmith shops began servicing these mechanized carriages and then began offering gas and oil as well. The hay burners were giving way to oil burners and business owners made adjustments to provide service to the newly arriving travelers.

As the horseless carriages became more reliable throughout the 1920's more traffic traveled the coastal route and a new industry was born around automobile travel. Los Alamos reinvented itself into a service town, as did all of the towns dotting this coastal highway route. Hotels that once served stagecoach passengers took in drivers. Service stations sprang up all along the main road competing for gas and oil business. Small diners offered food and rest. This would last until the 1950's when Los Alamos was bypassed again by a new "freeway".

Today Los Alamos is a dichotomy of different eras. An abandoned service station sits across from a railway depot, leaving traces of the days of the both the iron horse and the horseless carriage. Other empty service stations are surrounded by western front buildings left over from the days when thundering horses arrived with a stagecoach full of passengers.

Much of the memory of what Los Alamos once was would have been lost long ago had it not been for the Los Alamos Valley Men's Club and their annual Olden Days celebrations. Today this effort to preserve the important story of this western town has been enhanced by the creation of an exhibit about the history of the town in the town of Los Alamos.

The recently opened display is a joint effort between the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society and the Thompson family. Ironically, the Los Alamos Valley historical exhibit is housed in a building that was built as a garage to service the early automobiles. For those that have been around long enough, it was known as the T & T Garage. More recently it was Krall Antiques, although it had been sitting empty for several years.

Today it is a combination of museum and furniture for sale under the ownership of Danny Thompson. Located in front of the old railroad depot, it provides a fitting foundation for the as yet unofficial "Los Alamos Historical Society". At least it's a place where the story of Los Alamos can be preserved and shared with those that venture off of the "freeway" into this historic western town.

If you have pictures, artifacts or family history to share about the history of Los Alamos we would love to hear from you. Call Curt Cragg at 805-260-8233 or send me an email at buelltonhistory@verizon.net.