Perhaps because so many images of the earthquake damage on State Street gave it a bad name, there was a suggestion to change the name of our main street. “While we are rebuilding State Street with structures typical of the old Santa Barbara, why not change the name of the street to something more in keeping with our traditions?,” one person asked. His suggestion for a new name was “Avenida Portola.” – Santa Barbara Morning Press, August 1, 1925
Gaspar de Portolá had led an early expedition through the Santa Barbara area in 1769. However, one of the problems that I predict would have been an issue was pronunciation. In Spanish, the final “a” in Portolá has an accent mark, which means that the name should be pronounced por-to-LA. Unfortunately, many Gringoes would probably pronounce the street name por-TOL-la…