ABOVE, Santa Claus, California, c. 1950, a famous road side attraction.
LEFT, an aerial view of the Carpinteria Motor Lodges, located in the vicinity of Sandyland Cove The Coast Highway runs across the middle of the photo.
More and more people eventu-
ally discovered Carpinteria, many attracted by its beaches. Swim- ming, boating, fishing, camping and so many activities were op- tions that the small town became more and more appealing. With the Carpinteria Reef minimizing heavy surf and undertow on the local beach along with a lack of harmful sea creatures, the slogan “World’s Safest Beach” became prevalent and continues to take the place of actual beach names today.
Santa Claus Lane was started in
1948 by Patrick McKeon. He and his brother named the lane “Santa Claus” because there were many surrounding “Santa towns”—Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Paula. The Coast Highway moved to three different locations along Santa Claus Lane. Traffic originally ran behind the shops, and later moved to the front of the stores. Finally, the highway was rerouted to its current location. The lane’s miniature, orange
and red train ride (painted for the Southern Pacific Daylight), Toy- land, Santa’s Kitchen, the Reindeer Room cocktail lounge, and Date Shop called drivers to pull off the road all year long. Sadly, the 18-foot-tall, two-and-a-half-ton Santa that greeted motorists travel- ling along the highway since 1948 was moved away in 2003. Construction of U.S. Highway
101 moved traffic from the center of Carpinteria slightly inland to a new express route in the mid- 1950s. This portion of the highway was one of the last to complete 101 from the Ventura County line to the City of Santa Barbara. The road continues to evolve
with today’s freeway widening. It’s a long way from the old, wooden Rincon Causeway, but the needle still points to the jewel of the California coast, Carpinteria. ¢
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