This unidentified newspaper article, dated July 9, 1925 [Sixty Years Ago], was found in a scrapbook owned by Town Historian Richard Schmal:
A description of one who is having a personal experience in the devastation of the recent earthquake in Santa Barbara, Calif., is given in an extract of a letter from Mrs. Albert Robbins (Charlotte Michael) who, with her husband resides in that city, to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.P. Michael. "The quake came around 7 a.m. We managed to get out of the house in our night clothes -- I don't know how. The garage next door crushed our house in. We got out just before our chimney crashed on the bed. Albert hurt his arm a little. Where are we going and what are we going to do, I don't know, neither does anyone else. The streets and sidewalks are torn up. I don't think there is a good house left in Santa Barbara. You can't even walk down State Street. The dam broke and almost flooded the town. Fires started and all gas and electricity is shut off. Everyone is afraid of a tidal wave coming in and are all in a panic. I am so nervous I must close. I do not know how much of our stuff we can save. It is quarter past 2, and all we want now is something to eat." The paper of July 5th states that they have had 96 quakes in six days.