Santa Barbara Polo Racquet Club

An exhibition polo match was first played at the Santa Barbara Agricultural Park’s 1894 Flower Festival. This match encouraged sufficient local interest in the sport that by 1902, the fledgling Club boasted a 40-member roster. Polo flourished within the community as various fields emerged, thereby drawing players to the area. A fire in Carpinteria in 1916 incidentally paved a way for what was later called Fleischmann Field. In 1926 the club was sold to Major Fleischmann, who had an architect, Robert Spurgeon, design the barns and the polo clubhouse. Nearby Summerland beach became a favorite training ground for the players who ran their ponies through surf and sand.