Santa Barbara, CA Neighborhoods - San Roque
San Roque is one of Santa Barbara's most popular neighborhoods for families. Winding tree lined streets with mountain views, an excellent school district, close to downtown, easy shopping and excellent weather, describe the San Roque neighborhood in Santa Barbara. San Roque's development as a residential neighborhood began around 1925 and saw a post WWII building boom fill almost all the remaining lots during the 1950's. The idyllic San Roque neighborhood of today has custom homes built in an assortment of classic architectural styles including English Tudor, Spanish, California bungalow, craftsman and more. This neighborhoods topography is flat to rolling, and occupies the area North of State Street to Foothill Rd. The Eastern boundary of San Roque runs along Alamar Ave. with North Hope Ave. roughly forming it's Western perimeter. What many San Roque residents do not know is that this calm and domestic community was once the Ranch and headquarters of the Notorius outlaw Jack Powers gang, who for a decade terrorized travelers and residents of the area.
The Notorious Jack Powers San Roque Ranch Headquarters
In the decade following statehood Santa Barbara was literally the wild West. The notorious and charismatic Sgt. Powers liked the way things were run in Santa Barbara when his regiment ,which was sent by the president to occupy the city, was the law in town. After the U.S. victory in the Mexican American War and California was added to the union his regiment was deactivated and Powers decided to stay in Santa Barbara. The decade that followed saw Powers and his gang terrorize and rob stagecoaches and travelers along a stretch of El Camino Real, (today's Hwy's 101 and 1) between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. This stretch was considered the most dangerous route in the Union during the height of Powers reign. Even the sheriff with a posse of 200 men backed down in a stand off with the ruthless gang at its San Roque ranch. The Powers gang had virtual control over Santa Barbara. After a decade long crime spree, word got out that a sizable force was being sent from Washington to confront Powers and his Gang, so they disbanded and left town. Jack Powers reign as an outlaw ended in Mexico where he is believed to have been killed in a dispute over a girl and fed to a pen of hungary pigs.
I know, I know, it's not a happy Santa Barbara day at the beach story, I tried, but I couldn't keep information like this to myself when writing about the San Roque neighborhood.
Today, homes in family friendly San Roque are priced between $700,000 and $2,000,000.
Feel free to contact me if you would like more information about real estate in San Roque. Here is a current and updated list of the inventory of homes for sale in Santa Barbara's San Roque neighborhood.
