Dec. 21, 1812: Most of Mission Santa Ines was destroyed by an earthquake.

Dec. 24, 1844: The 26,148-acre Punta de Laguna was granted to Luis Arellanes and E.M. Ortega.

Dec. 25, 1846: Lt. Col. John C. Fremont camped at Benjamin Foxen’s Rancho Tinaquaic before being led by Foxen’s son, Guillermo, over the San Marcos Pass.

Dec. 22, 1870: The first marriage in the Santa Maria Valley took place when Rebecca Miller married John James Holloway.

Dec. 6, 1872: Thomas Hart, a blacksmith from England, became the first resident owner in the new town of Guadalupe when he purchased eight lots from Theodore LeRoy.

Dec. 31, 1878: Reuben Hart married Harriet W. Sharp in a ceremony performed by Madison Thornburgh, Justice of the Peace. Witnesses were W.T. Morris and George W. Lewis.

December 1883: Santa Maria’s first brick building was put up by T.A. Jones to replace a two-story wooden structure that had gone up in flames Sept. 3. The second story of the new building became a lodge room for the Santa Maria Masons, the office of Judge Thornburgh and a reading room for WCTU. The Santa Maria Times moved in the following January.

December 1884: The Campodonico Store, at the corner of Guadalupe and 9th streets, in Guadalupe, opened for business, offering commodities ranging from groceries to clothing, plus grain and hay.

Dec. 20, 1902: Benjamin Wiley, Santa Maria’s first settler, died at the age of 77.

Dec. 2, 1904: With a mighty roar, a column of oil and gas shot up through the rig floor to a height of 150 feet. Oil began to pour down the gullies and creek beds. Thus, Hartnell No. 1, forever to be known as “Old Maud,” and the biggest producer of oil the world has ever seen, was born.

Dec. 5, 1922: The Santa Maria Chapter of Rotary International, sponsored by the Santa Barbara Rotary Club, was chartered.

Dec. 22, 1925: The first broadcast of Captain Hancock’s radio station (KXFC), Santa Barbara County’s first radio station.

Dec. 11, 1928: Frank Shields, destined to be one of the most powerful leaders the town has ever known, reported for work at Santa Maria’s branch of the Bank of Italy. Within two years, the bank’s name was changed to the Bank of America. Shields served as vice president and manager of the local branch until he retired in December 1964.

Dec. 5, 1933: Prohibition ended and several local restaurants were ready to serve wines. Along with the application for a liquor license, the petitioner was required to include signed documents from five owners of real property attesting to the good moral character of the applicant.

December 1939: Bob Rivers enlisted in the Army Air Corps and received his flight training at Parks Air College in East St. Louis, Ill. Rivers was later taken prisoner of war.

Dec. 31, 1939: With about 2,400 lines in service, the Associated Telephone Company Ltd. acquired the Santa Barbara Telephone Company, and Bob Easton was appointed vice president and director. In January 1953, Associated Telephone became General Telephone Company.

Dec. 7, 1941: The newly restored Mission La Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima was dedicated after 200 young men from the government Civilian Conservation Corps had spent seven years restoring the site. The mission is the largest and most thorough restoration done in the historic West, and is now a unit of the California State Park system.

Dec. 7, 1941: Clarence and Kenneth Cooper, both of Casmalia, and serving aboard the U.S.S. Arizona, were killed in the early hours of the morning when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Dec. 10, 1941: The first of many blackouts took place on the California Coast, with all lights being put out from Monterey to the Mexican border.

Dec. 1, 1942: President Delano Roosevelt ordered nationwide gas rationing.

Dec. 24, 1943: First activity of the Elks Recreation Foundation was held at the Veterans’ Memorial Building with the horse Trelawney offered as a door prize.

Dec. 10, 1949: Frank McCoy, owner of the famed Santa Maria Inn, died at the age of 77.

Dec. 6, 1955: Shooting began on “The Spirit of St. Louis” in Santa Maria, with the aging Hancock Field used to represent Roosevelt Air Field in Long Island.

Dec. 7, 1957: The Secretary of Defense directed the transfer of South Camp Cooke (almost 20,000 acres) from the Army to the Navy for use as a projected national missile range.

Dec. 1, 1958: Dick Maretti and Clarence Minetti purchased the Palace Hotel (now the Far Western Tavern) from Elvezia and Angelo Ferrari, and opened the bar on the same day.

Dec. 16, 1958: The Space Age was launched when Vandenberg Air Force Base sent its first missile up into the sky.

Dec. 2, 1962: Adam School was dedicated to William Laird Adam.

Dec. 1, 1965: Guadalupe voters approved a $135,000 bond issue to purchase the privately owned Campodonico Water Works.

Dec. 1, 1969: Mrs. Lillian Burrow, the last Postmaster at Betteravia, retired.

Dec. 18, 1974: Santa Maria Union High School graduate Bryn Smith signed his first professional baseball contract, with the Baltimore Orioles.

Dec. 11, 1997: Santa Maria Athletic Club’s Redskins (Santa Maria’s only semi-pro football team) held its 50th reunion at the Rancho Bowl with Jim Gamble (the club’s manager) as Master of Ceremonies. Managers passed out trophies (50 years overdue) to the team’s outstanding players.

Dec. 16, 1997: The Rubel House was named an Object of Historical Merit.

 Dec. 1, 1998: Robin Ventura, Righetti High School graduate, signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.

December 2000: The Dunes Center opened at 1055 Guadalupe St. in Guadalupe.

Dec. 7, 2001: Robin Ventura was traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees.

Dec. 16, 2003: Alice Patino was appointed by her fellow City Council members to serve as mayor pro tem in 2004, thereby becoming Santa Maria’s first woman to serve in that capacity.

December 2004: Luke Branquinho, son of Brandy and Johnnie Branquinho, of Los Alamos was crowned the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s Steer Wrestling Champion of 2004 at the National Finals in Los Angeles.

Dec. 19, 2006: Hilda Zacharias was sworn in as Santa Maria’s third female City Council member in the city’s history.

Dec. 8, 2008: Luke Branquinho won the professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association coveted World Steer-wrestling Championship at he 50th annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Shirley Contreras lives in Orcutt and writes for the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. She can be contacted at 934-3514 or at shirleycontreras2@yahoo.com. Her book, “The Good Years,” a selection of stories she’s written for the Santa Maria Times since 1991, is on sale at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society, at 616 S. Broadway.