"Rolling Through the West" To many people the word “stagecoach” conjures up thoughts and images from the romance of movies and stories of the Old West. Most people probably don’t know that stagecoaching actually started in the fifteenth century as a mode of transportation throughout England. These large, sturdy horse-drawn vehicles traveled over long distances in “stages”, stopping at established way stations along the way to change horses and provide a meal for the passengers. One of the museum's most popular exhibits, “Rolling Through the West” is a historic photo gallery of stagecoach driving in the Valley and Santa Barbara areas. Along with the photos garnered from the museum’s archives the exhibit develops the history of the stagecoach, its construction and influence on the American West and California in particular. Stagecoach routes ran up the Santa Barbara coast then turned inland through Gaviota Pass to the Santa Ynez Valley in the early 1860’s.
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	It was a rough and difficult ride through the Gaviota pass so in 1869 the Santa Ynez Turnpike Company opened up a shorter, easier and more direct route that took mail and passengers up and over the San Marcos Pass from downtown Santa Barbara. Kinevan’s Ranch and Cold Spring Tavern were stage stops along the route where passengers were able to have a meal while the horses were being changed out. Other historic stage stops like Ballard’s Station and Felix Mattei’s Central Hotel dotted the Valley landscape during the stagecoach era.
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