| Like the Barbara Worth
Hotel in San Diego and the Barbara Worth Cafe in Jacumba, the
Barbara Worth Hotel in Santa Barbara never compared with the
world-class Barbara Worth Hotel in El Centro. It probably had no
connection with Harold Bell Wright other than using the name of the
heroine from his 1912 novel, "The Winning of Barbara Worth." But we
will have to say this for it: unlike the other two hotels by the
same name, this one is still standing. The 1920-1924
Santa Barbara City
Records (the earliest in the library)
show a Hotel Rex located at 524-1/2 State Street, in the heart of
Old Town. It's proprietor (owner) was L. L. Hinchee. As can be seen
in the photo above, there are two entrances. In the early 1920's,
one was for the hotel, the other entrance (524) was for the Empire
Dye Works.
On Monday morning, June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara was
rocked by a powerful earthquake (6.3 on the Richter scale) that
destroyed much of the business district and left the Hotel Rex
"ruined completely." The city began a massive rebuilding project.
Evidently the hotel was among the first to be rebuilt, because the
1925 City Record book shows the Hotel Barbara Worth at 524a
State Street. The Empire Dye Works still occupied 524, as it did for
many more years. G. A. Berg is listed as proprietor from 1925 to
1936. Kenneth Ahlman (born June 26, 1890 Goteburg, Sweden; died May
10, 1977 Santa Barbara, CA, USA, married Elin) is listed as
proprietor from 1937 to 1966. NOTE: The Barbara Worth
Hotel should not be confused with the Barbara Hotel, also in the 500
block, but on the other side of State Street from the Barbara Worth
Hotel. The name change did not
keep the earthquakes away. In reporting on the 1952 Kern County,
California earthquake on the White Wolf fault at the south end of
the San Joaquin Valley, the Santa Barbara News Press (Monday,
Jul. 21, 1952), stated, "At the Barbara Worth Hotel building in the
500 block of State Street, one wall was so severely damaged it
probably will have to be torn down and replaced." A genealogy site
on the web states, "Ahlman, Kenneth- married Elin. Elin's parents
where Swedish and owned and ran the Barbara Worth Hotel in Santa
Barbara." That report says that Elin and Kenneth had two children
who are still living in Santa Barbara, Florence and Ray.)
The 1967 Santa Barbara City Record book shows that in that year the
hotel was sold and the name was changed to the Garvey Hotel.
The other entrance was now for The Bargain Center--Used Clothes.
In 1977, James Williams comments, "The Barbara Worth Hotel, which
was described by a long-time resident of lower State [Street] as
having been 'really nice,' changed hands and was renamed the Garvey
Hotel in 1968. Today the Garvey can no longer be seen as an elegant
hotel." Today (2003) the former Barbara Worth Hotel building,
including the part once occupied by a dye works and a used clothing
store, is a recruiting center for the late L. Ron Hubbard's
Scientology. A host at the entrance told me all the former hotel rooms are now
"counseling rooms," which means, according to a sign on the outside
of the building, "Dianetics." As I understand it, that is
sort of a New Age palm reading, followed by expensive
pop-psychology, life-improvement classes. Adherents claim it is a
religion. The red awnings on the right side of the building cover an
outdoor news stand, which was not open the day I shot these photos
(March 8, 2003). More Photos of the Barbara Worth
Hotel in Santa Barbara |
