MESA MEMORIES MONDAY - Honda Valley Park History
The west end of Miramonte Drive was built in the late 1950s, but it was originally called Hoffman Drive because of a research company next to the television station. In 1970, the Santa Barbara Highlands Company, which built the large condo complex on Highland and Miramonte, donated 20 acres to the city to be used as a park. Three years later, Marie J. Thornbury, wife of a real estate developer William Thornbury, donated an adjacent parcel of 28 acres.
The park gained a brief notoriety in 1992 when nearby residents suspected that a thief lived in the park and was stealing shoes and newspapers that were left outdoors. The "thief" turned out to be a fox with acquisitive habits. (Image: Betsy J. Green)