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History of Ojai, California

The geologic structure of the Ojai Valley is essential to the charm and the spiritual influence with which it affects those who live within its gentle confines.

The Ojai Valley is ten miles long and three miles wide. The unique atmosphere  that impresses even the first time visitor is due to the transverse nature of the surrounding mountains, they lie in an East/West configuration, whereas most of California’s mountains run North/South.

The sun rising at one end of the valley and setting at the other provides the residents with lingering morning and evening sun, and some of the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets available anywhere.

When conditions are right (nearly all of the time) everyone in the valley stands transfixed for several moments at sunset watching the surrounding mountains turn a brilliant shade of rose. It has even been given a name, “The pink moment”.

Unfortunately not enough is known about the earliest human settlers in the valley, the Cumash Indians. We know they were a “milling stone” people, who subsisted on a diet of grains. The abundance of acorns in the valley undoubtedly provided some of the food supply.

In October of 1542 Cabrillo anchored his fleet off what is now Ventura. The peaceful and uneventful life of the Cumash was to change forever from that time on.

Many Spanish and even English explorers visited the valley and recorded impressions of the natives they found, however, they recorded on impressions of this people, nothing more. The wonderful opportunity that existed during the Mission years to study and preserve a culture was lost to the drive the Missionaries had to Civilize and convert.

Early History of the Valley

Like most areas of the Pacific South West, the Ojai valley was originally the site of several large Spanish land grants. Ojai was granted to Fernando Tico who began to raise cattle and planted crops beginning in 1837 on what was known as Rancho Ojay (the Spanish spelling).

Tico sold his property in 1853. Many reselling transactions followed until 1864, when the newest owners began to explore for oil.

Oil exploration in the Ojai Valley was never a big success. Ten years later people were settling the area and extolling its health giving aspects. In 1874 the Ventura Signal ran ads for subdivisions, one called “the City of Ojai”, the other for the “City of Nordhoff.”

Charles Nordhoff was a writer who wrote beautiful tributes to the idea of moving West, to California. There is no evidence at all that Nordhoff ever actually came to or saw the Ojai Valley, nevertheless it was his name that stuck. What we now call “Ojai” was called “Nordhoff” from 1872 to 1917. What changed everything, and what shaped the town and the valley as it now exists, was the coming to Ojai of Edward Drummond Libbey.

The Shaping of Modern Ojai

Edward Drummond Libbey

As previously noted, from 1872 to 1917 the town we now know as Ojai was called Nordhoff. Charles Nordhoff was a writer for the New York Herald who had seen and come to love the California Coast during his service in the U.S. Navy. He extolled the health giving qualities of the State and wrote a book, “California for Health, Pleasure, and Residence, a Book for Travelers and  Settlers”. The book sold well, and influenced many to come to the new State.

In 1872 a group of early settlers decided it was time to incorporate into a town. They were led by Abram Wheeler Blumberg who wanted to name the town “Topa Topa” which Blumberg believed meant “gopher” in the Cumash Indian language. But his wife, Catherine Elizabeth Blumberg suggested the name Nordhoff. She reminded her husband that it was Nordhoff’s writings that had influenced their coming to California in the first place. And Nordhoff it became.

Nordhoff grew and prospered schools, a library, churches and restaurants, hotels and ranches flourished. The climate of the Valley and its seemingly mystical ability to soothe and heal the troubled soul attracted a number of very influential and prosperous men who gave generously of their time and money to advance the city’s prospects. Among them were names still engraved on the physical town by the way of streets, schools, and landmarks. Sherman D. Thacher, Earl Soule, H.R. Cole, and Harrison Sinclair among them. But none were more influential than Edward Libbey.

Libbey was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, where he inherited a small cut glass business and transformed it into one of the major manufacturing giants of the new Century. In 1908, at the invitation of his close friend Harrison Sinclair, Libbey came to visit the Valley. He was seldom away from it for long ever after.

The men and women who settled the American West were all people of high stature, brave, optimistic, and generous. But some were also uniquely possessed of a vision, and Libbey was such a man. His vision for the town and the Valley he loved is what we see today. Nearly every aspect of the City of Ojai is the way he envisioned it in 1914.

Libbey built a home on Foothill Road and lived there for an increasing period of time each year. In 1914 he shared his ideas with a group of civic leaders.  Libbey thought the town needed a sense of cohesion. He wanted distinction. His view was to enhance the existing rustic shops on Ojai Avenue with an architectural structure. And he had Ideas for an area above the main town to be called the Arbolata, with winding roads and architecture that blended with the natural landscape.

On April 24, 1914  87 men attended a special meeting called by Libbey in which he described his plans. They were received with unanimous approval. Libbey then hired a San Diego architect, Richard S. Requa.

Requa looked the town over and came up with an idea for a Spanish style arcade which would enclose the shops on Ojai Avenue. And a tower fashioned after the famous Campanile in Havana, which would house a Post Office. And a beautiful Pergola to face the arcade from the other side of Ojai Avenue, and provide access to a civic park. All were built, most financed by Libbey himself.

On March 2nd, 1917, the Men’s League of Norhoff planned a day of celebration and thanks for the gift of Edward Libbey. They wanted to call it Libbey Day, but Libbey declined, he wanted it called Ojai day, and so it remains to this day as an annual celebration unique to the town.

Only one item remained, the name of the town.  People had always called the valley Ojai, and the town Nordhoff. A difficult issue it proved to change the town name. But eventually, Ojai won out. On March 23, 1917 the name change was made official by the United States Senate.

The fate of the Pergola is shrouded in mystery and legend. What is known is that it was destroyed by demolition in 1977, after already being damaged by explosion some years earlier. The swelling sentiment to rebuild it has borne fruit, work is planned to begin next year.

A final note on the name Ojai.  Most residents are sure it means “nest” in the Cumash language, but experts disagree. They say it means Moon. Those of us who live here say it doesn’t matter. To us, it means paradise.

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Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley. They called it Ojai, which derives from the Ventureño Chumash word ʼawhaý meaning "moon." The area became part of the Rancho Ojai Mexican land grant made to Fernando Tico in 1837, and he established a cattle ranch. Tico sold it in 1853 without much success to prospectors searching for oil. By 1864, the area was settled.

The town was laid out in 1874 by real estate developer R.G. Surdam and named Nordhoff, California, in honor of the writer Charles Nordhoff. Leading up to and during World War I, American sentiment became increasingly anti-German. Across the United States, German and German-sounding place names were changed. As part of this trend, Nordhoff was renamed Ojai in 1917.

The public high school in Ojai is still named Nordhoff High School. The public junior high school, named "Matilija," formerly served as Nordhoff Union High School and still features large tiles with the initials "NUHS" on the steps of the athletic field.

The main turning point in the development of the city was the coming of Edward Libbey, early owner of the Libbey Glass Company. He saw the valley and fell in love, thinking up many plans for expansion and beautification of the existing rustic town.

After fire destroyed much of the original western-style Nordhoff/Ojai in 1917, Libbey helped design, finance and build a new downtown more in line with the contemporary taste for Colonial-Revival architecture, including a Spanish-style arcade, a bell-tower reminiscent of the famous campanile in Havana, and a pergola opposite the arcade. These buildings still stand, and have come to serve as symbols of the city and the surrounding valley. To thank Libbey for his gifts to the town, the citizens proposed a celebration to take place on March 2 of each year. Libbey declined their offer to call it "Libbey Day," and instead suggested "Ojai Day." The celebration still takes place, each year in October.

Libbey's pergola was destroyed in 1971, after being damaged in an explosion. It was rebuilt in the early 2000s to complete the architectural continuity of the downtown area. The town completed a new park, Cluff Vista Park, in 2002, which contains several small themed regions of native California vegetation.

Ojai Valley Timeline

Mission and Rancho Days

1782 – Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Buenaventura.

1812 – Severe earthquakes damage California missions.

1818 – The California coast is threatened by pirates.

1830: Lopez Adobe, at the mouth of Matilija Canyon. Originally served as a soldiers' garrison under the command of Raphael Lopez. The Lopez family lived here for about 90 years. The walls still stand, incorporated into a private dwelling.

1837 – Governor Juan Alvarado grants Rancho Ojai to Fernando Tico.

1837 – Gov. Alvarado grants Rancho Santa Ana to Crisogono Ayala and Cosme Vanegas.

1846 – The United States takes possession of California.

1853 – Fernando Tico sells Rancho Ojai.

1854 - The earliest known image of the valley was a lithograph made by A. H. Campbell, during surveying for a railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.
Oil and Tourism

1861 – George Gilbert extracts and refines oil near Rancho Arnaz.

1867 – Thomas Bard, agent for Thomas A. Scott's California Petroleum Company, finally strikes oil in Well No. 6 in the upper Ojai. But it is too little to late.

1868 – Thomas Bard (at right), at Scott's instruction, sells the first subdivided land within Rancho Ojai.

1872 – Charles Nordhoff’s California for Health, Pleasure and Residence is first published.

1873 – William McKee opens Oak Glen Cottages in the east valley.

1873 – Sea captain Richard Robinson begins farming in the upper valley.

1874 - First jail. Built by town constable Andy Van Curen in his back yard.
No windows, two cells, six-inch slots for air.

The Village of Nordhoff

1874 – Royce Surdam (at right) establishes the village of Nordhoff (now the City of Ojai).

1874 – Abram Wheeler Blumberg’s hotel opens with a grand ball.

1874 – Lafayette Herbert opens Nordhoff’s first general store.

1876 - The Nordhoff School officially opens. John Montgomery donated the land for the first school in the town center to be built. After a new school was built in 1895, the little brick schoolhouse was used as a private home by several families and later served as several bed and breakfasts. The much-altered school is now the Lavender Inn (a bed & breakfast).

1875 – The first Ojai Valley Grange organizes.

1876 – John Meiners gets a ranch northwest of the village of Nordhoff for an unpaid debt.

1877 – Presbyterians begin regular church services that are held in the brick schoolhouse until a church is built in 1884. (Presbyterians were the first to organize a church in the valley).

1878 – The Casitas Pass stagecoach road is opened.

1881 – Charles Nordhoff makes his first visit to the valley, escorted by William Hollister.

1887 – Railroad services begin between Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

1884 - First church in the valley. a Presbyterian Church, is built on Ojai Avenue where Fairway Lane is today. The American Colonial Revival structure still stands at the corner of Montgomery and Aliso Streets. Photo: a new bell is hoisted to the belfry in 1889.

1889 – Sherman Thacher begins taking students for college preparation tutoring.

1891 – The Ojai newspaper is first published (now the Ojai Valley News).

1893 – The George Thacher Memorial Free Library opens on a lot east of Stewart Creek and 100 feet south of Ojai Avenue.

1893 – Postmaster controversy

1893 – Mary Gally takes over management of Oak Glen Cottages (Gally Cottages).

1894 – Charles Nordhoff makes his third visit to the valley with his wife and three daughters.

1895 – The Casa de Piedra Ranch School (Thacher School) is destroyed by fire.

1895 – The Nordhoff Grammar School is built on the corner of Ojai Avenue and Montgomery Street.

1895 – William Thacher organizes the Athletic Club and the Tennis Club. A local competition takes place in 1896 with the Ojai Valley Tennis Club challenging the Ventura Tennis Club.

Celebrating Ojai

1898 – The village stages a “Jubilation” to celebrate opening of its new railroad line.

1897 - Ojai succumbs to its own gold rush

1899 – Tennis tournaments continue to expand yearly and by 1899 a single elimination format with multiple categories and interscholastic matches is held in Nordhoff with spectator attendance of over 500. Some consider this the first "Ojai".

1899 – Golf is first played in the valley, sponsored by Mary Gally at her cottages.

1899 – The King’s Daughters is organized (a women's service auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church).

1900 – The Ojai Improvement Company is formed to construct a luxury hotel.

1900 – Dr. Saeger is a faithful family physician.

1900 - Ojai Avenue. These building fronts were covered by the Ojai Arcade, completed in 1917

1903 – The first Foothills Hotel is constructed (designed by Samuel M. Ilsley).

1904 – The Evelyn Hunter Nordhoff Memorial Fountain is constructed on Ojai Avenue.

1905 – Boxing matches are staged inside and outside of Tom Clark’s livery stable.

1905 – Agnes Duncan Brown is recognized for her music.

1908 – Edward Thacher is among leaders establishing the Ojai Orange Association.

1908 – The entrance towers at Foster Park are dedicated.

1909 – Nordhoff High School opens.

1909 – The Charles Pratt house is constructed on Foothill Road (designed by Greene & Greene).

1910 – Free-ranging chickens roost along Main Street (Ojai Avenue).

1910 – The Ojai Orange Association Packing House is constructed.

The Great Transformation

1911 – The Edward Libbey house is constructed on Foothill Road (designed by Myron Hunt & Elmer Grey).

1911 - Ojai Valley Woman's Club is built. Begins as a clubhouse for The King's Daughters until 1915.

1911 – Nick Peirano supplies his Ventura store with fruit from his Santa Ana Valley ranch.

1912 – Sales begin for Wonderland Park

1912 --Mary Day French casts her first vote in a presidential election at age 84.

1914 – Candelaria Valenzuela tells of her Chumash people and culture.

1915 – Donald Crisp directs filming of Ramona at Casitas Springs.

Edward Libbey

1915 – Earl Stanley Gardner defends a “confirmed outlaw.”

1916 – Construction begins for the arcade, post office tower and pergola designed by San Diego architects Frank Mead and Richard Requa and financed by Mr. Libbey.

1917 – The arcade, post office tower and pergola are complete. The occasion is celebrated at the first Ojai Day on April 7, 1917 (a day after the United States enters WWI).

1917 – The village name is changed from Nordhoff to Ojai.

1917 – Fire rages out of Matilija Canyon in June and devastates much of the residential portion of town. Does not damage the new arcade, post office, or pergola.

1917 – A second fire in November burns out the businesses at the west end of the arcade.

1918 – The second Foothills Hotel is constructed (designed by Mead & Requa).

1920 – Hotel El Roblar is constructed. Designed by Mead & Requa (now the Oaks at Ojai).

1922 – Jiddu Krishnamurti first visits the valley.

1923 – The 1st building of the Ojai Valley School is constructed (designed by Wallace Neff).

1923 – The clubhouse at the Ojai Valley Country Club is built from a design by Pasadena architect Wallace Neff (now the Ojai Valley Inn).

Arts and Spirituality

1924 – The library and music room at the Krotona Institute of Theosophy are constructed.

1924 – The Villanova Preparatory School for Boys opens.

1926 – Annie Besant, International President of the Theosophical Society, visits.

1926 - Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Frank Frost sponsor a music festival.

1926 – The Ojai Valley Garden Club is founded.

1928 - Crystal Pennant wins the richest race in the world.

1928 – Ojai responds to the St. Francis Dam disaster.

1928 – The Foster Bowl at Foster Park is constructed (designed by Roy Wilson).

1929 – The William Ford house is constructed (designed by Paul Williams).

1929 – Nordhoff Union High School moves into its new buildings.

1932 – Adolfo Camarillo hosts a barbecue at the Wren’s Nest.

1933 – Construction of the Maricopa Highway is completed.

1933 – Civil Conservation Corps workers first arrive in the valley.

1939 – Dr. Charles Butler leads in founding the Ojai Community Art Center and raising the building funds.

The Second World War

1942 – The 134th Infantry takes over the country club as a combat training camp.

1942 – The Monica Ros School and California Preparatory School open.

1943 – The 17th Infantry from New Jersey replaces the 134th Infantry (from Nebraska).

1944 – The Seabees Acorn Assembly & Training Detachment replaces the 17th Infantry.

1945 - Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are here to raise funds for the Navy Relief Welfare Fund.

A Reach for World Renown

1946 - Aldous Huxley is among the directors of the new Happy Valley School.

1946 – The Chekhov Players open the High Valley Theater.

1946 – The Clarence Wylie house is constructed (designed by Harwell Hamilton Harris).

1947 – The country club reopens after the war with a new name: Ojai Valley Inn.

1947 – The first concerts of the Ojai Music Festival are performed.

1948 – Beatrice Wood establishes her pottery studio in the east valley.

1951 – The first “spill over” occurs at the Matilija Dam.

The Spirit of the Valley Continues

1952 – The James Moore house is constructed designed by Richard Neutra.

1952 - Pat and Mike is filmed at the Inn with Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracey.

1955 – Igor Stravinsky conducts at the Ojai Music Festival.

1955 – Camp Ramah opens at the site of the former California Preparatory School (formerly the Foothills Hotel).

1955 – The last train runs on the Ventura-Ojai rail line.

1956 – Avatar Meher Baba visits Meher Mount atop Sulphur Mountain.

1957 – Aaron Copeland conducts at the Ojai Music Festival.

1958 – The Casitas Dam and reservoir are constructed (Lake Casitas).

Getting through the Sixties

1967 – Pierre Boulez and Michael Tilson Thomas

1968 – Florence Garrigue leads in establishing Meditation Mount.

1969 – The Krishnamurti Foundation opens the Oak Grove School.

1971 – The pergola and memorial fountain are removed by the City of Ojai.

1978 – The first “spill over” occurs at the Casitas Dam (Lake Casitas).

1979 – Ravi Shankar first performs at the Ojai Music Festival.

1979 – The Ojai Foundation is established in the upper valley.

1983 – An International Regatta is staged at Lake Casitas.

1984 – Olympic canoe, kayak and scull races are conducted at Lake Casitas.

The Century’s End

1993 – The Ojai Institute opens (now the Ojai Retreat.)

1998 – Beatrice Wood dies a week after celebrating her 105th birthday.

1999 – The pergola and memorial fountain are reconstructed.

2000 – The 100th anniversary of the Ojai Tennis Tournament is celebrated.

2001 - Ojai holds a memorial at Libbey Park for victims of the “9/11” disaster in New York City.

2002 - The new Cluff Vista Park is dedicated.

2003 - The City of Ojai passes Ordinance #765 creating the Public Art Program.

2004 - The first Lemire Grand Prix introduces professional bicycling races to Ojai.

2005 - The new Rotary Community Park is dedicated.

2006 - The Oaks at Ojai (originally El Roblar Hotel) undergoes major renovation.

2009 - Nordhoff High School celebrates its 100th year.

History of Ventura County

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in California, the area was home to the Chumash tribe of Native Americans.

Spanish period

In October 1542, the expedition led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo anchored in an inlet near Point Mugu; its members were the first Europeans to arrive in the area that would become Ventura County.

Active occupation of California by Spain began in 1769. Gaspar de Portolà led a military expedition by land from San Diego to Monterey, passing through Ventura County in August of that year. A priest with the expedition, Father Juan Crespí, kept a journal of the trip and noted that the area was ideal for a mission to be established and it was a "good site to which nothing is lacking". Also on this expedition was Father Junípero Serra, who later founded a mission on this site.

On March 31, 1782, the Mission San Buenaventura was founded by Father Serra. It is named after Saint Bonaventure one of the early intellectual founders of the Franciscan Order. The town that grew up around the mission, originally and still officially named San Buenaventura, has been known as Ventura since 1891.

In the 1790s, the Spanish Governor of California began granting land concessions to Spanish Californians, often retiring soldiers. These concessions were known as ranchos and consisted of thousands of acres of land that were used primarily as ranch land for livestock. In Ventura County, Rancho Simi was granted in 1795 and Rancho El Conejo in 1802.

Mexican Period

In 1822, California was notified of Mexico's independence from Spain and the Governor of California, the Junta, the military in Monterey and the priests and neophytes at Mission San Buenaventura swore allegiance to Mexico on April 11, 1822. California land that had been vested in the King of Spain was now owned by the nation of Mexico.

By the 1830s, Mission San Buenaventura was in a decline with fewer neophytes joining the mission. The number of cattle owned by the mission dropped from first to fifteenth ranking in the California Missions. The missions were secularized by the Mexican government in 1834. The Mexican governors began granting land rights to Mexican Californians, often retiring soldiers. By 1846, there were 19 rancho grants in Ventura County. In 1836, Mission San Buenaventura was transferred from the Church to a secular administrator. The natives who had been working at the mission gradually left to work on the ranchos. By 1839, only 300 Indians were left at the Mission and it slipped into neglect.

Several outhouses were discovered in July 2007 dating back to the 1800s. They have proved to be a treasure trove for archaeologists who braved the lingering smell in the dirt to uncover some 19th-century artifacts.

American Period

The Mexican–American War began in 1846 but its effect was not felt in Ventura County until 1847. In January of that year, Captain John C. Frémont led the California Battalion into San Buenaventura finding that the Europeans had fled leaving only the Indians in the Mission. Fremont and the Battalion continued south to sign the Treaty of Cahuenga with General Andrés Pico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo formally transferred California to the United States in 1848.

By 1849, a constitution had been adopted for the California territory. The new Legislature met and divided the pending state into 27 counties. At the time, the area that would become Ventura County was the southern part of Santa Barbara County.

The 1860s brought many changes to the area. A drought caused many of the ranchos to experience financial difficulties and most were divided, sub-divided and sold. Large sections of land were bought by eastern capitalists based on favorable reports of petroleum deposits. A United States Post Office was opened at Mission San Buenaventura in 1861. On April 1, 1866, the town of San Buenaventura was incorporated becoming the first officially recognized town in Ventura County.

On January 1, 1873, Ventura County was officially split from Santa Barbara County, bringing a flurry of change. That same year, a courthouse and wharf were built in San Buenaventura. A bank was opened and the first public library was created. The school system grew, with the first high school opening in 1890.

Other towns were starting in the county. A plan for Port Hueneme was recorded in 1874, and Santa Paula's plan was recorded in 1875. The community of Nordhoff (later renamed Ojai) was started in 1874. Piru, Fillmore and Montalvo were established in 1887. 1892 saw Simi (later Simi Valley), Somis, Saticoy and Moorpark. Oxnard was a late-comer, not being established until 1898.

The Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through San Buenaventura in 1887. For convenience in printing their timetables, Southern Pacific shortened San Buenaventura to Ventura. The Post Office soon followed suit. While the city remains officially known as San Buenaventura, it is more commonly referred to as Ventura.[16]

Oil has been known in Ventura County since before the arrival of the Europeans, as the native Chumash people used tar from natural seeps as a sealant and waterproofing for baskets and canoes. In the 1860s, several attempts were made to harvest the petroleum products under Ventura County but none were financially successful, and the oil speculators eventually changed from oil to land development. In 1913, oil exploration began in earnest, with Ralph Lloyd obtaining the financial support of veteran oil man Joseph B. Dabney. Their first well, named "Lloyd No. 1", was started on January 20, 1914. The well struck oil at 2558 feet (780 m) but was destroyed when it went wild. Other wells met a similar fate, until 1916, when a deal was struck with the Shell Oil Company. 1916 was the year the large South Mountain Oil Field was discovered, and other deals followed with General Petroleum in 1917 and Associated Oil Company in 1920. At its peak, the largest oil field in the county, the Ventura Avenue oilfield, discovered in 1919 in the hills north of Ventura, was producing 90,000 barrels (14,000 m3) of oil a day, with annual production of over a million and a half barrels. More oil fields came on-line in the 1920s and 1930s, with the Rincon field, the second-largest, in 1927, and the adjacent San Miguelito in 1931.

In the early hours of the morning of March 13, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, sending billions of gallons of water rushing through the Santa Clarita Valley, killing 385 people, destroying 1,240 homes and flooding 7,900 acres (32 km²) of land, devastating farm fields and orchards. This was the largest single disaster to strike Ventura County.

Modern Period

Ventura County can be separated into two major parts, East County and West County.[citation needed] East County consists of all cities east of the Conejo Grade. Geographically East County is the end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in which the Conejo Valley is located, and where there is a considerable increase in elevation. Communities which are considered to be in the East County are Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Lake Sherwood, Hidden Valley, Santa Rosa Valley, Oak Park, Moorpark, and Simi Valley. A majority of these communities are in the Conejo Valley.

West County, which is everything west of the Conejo Grade, consists of communities such as Camarillo, Oxnard, Somis, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. West County consists of some of the first developed cities in the county. The largest beach communities are located in West County on the coastline of the Channel Islands Harbor.

Starting in the mid-1900s, there was a large growth in population in the East County, moving from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and out into the Conejo and Simi Valleys, which consists of Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Agoura, and parts of Westlake Village belonging to Los Angeles County. The other half of the Conejo Valley, which belongs to Ventura County, consists of Lake Sherwood, Hidden Valley, Oak Park, parts of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park, which was formerly an unincorporated area that is now the most westerly part of Thousand Oaks. Many working-class white people migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles. As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US 101 corridor. Making the US 101 a full freeway in the 1960s, and the expansions that followed, helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. The communities that have seen the most substantial development are Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park.

Development moved farther down the US 101 corridor and sent population rising in West County cities as well. The largest population growth there has been in Camarillo, Oxnard, and Ventura. Development in the East County and along the US 101 corridor is becoming rare today, because most of these cities were master-planned cities, such as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, and are approaching build-out. Although the area still has plenty of open space and land, almost all of it was put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of the master plan of each city. Because of this, its private low-key location, its country feel, and its close proximity to Los Angeles, the Conejo Valley area has become a very attractive place to live. It once had relatively inexpensive real estate, but prices have risen sharply. For example, real estate in Newbury Park has increased in price by over 250% in the last 10 years. Median home prices in the Conejo Valley now range from $700,000 to $2.2 million. The Conejo Valley area is one of the most affluent areas in the United States.

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Early Settlement Of Ventura County, California

Although quite a number of Americans, being traders, sailors, or adventurers, had settled in various parts of the territory now known as Santa Barbara County, none of them had located permanently at San Buena­ventura up to the time of American military occupation, since Santa Barbara, the more important town, had superior attractions for them. When Stevenson's regiment arrived in Southern California, Isaac Callahan and W. A. Streeter were put in charge of the mission at San Buenaventura. A few years later Russel Heath, in connection with Don Jose Arnaz and one Morris, established the first store within the present county limits. In 1850 carne C. C. Rynerson and wife from the Mississippi Valley, camping at first at the mouth of the river San Buenaventura; they afterward moved northward. The first American farmer was A. Colombo, and Mr. Ware was the first blacksmith. Even as late as 1857 there were in the whole district but two houses of entertainment. One of these was a tent on the Sespe Rancho, and the other a little hostelry established in rooms in the east wing of the ex-mission buildings. It is worth while to note here a tribute to the cli­mate of Ventura County, paid by John Carr and wife, who kept this little inn or tavern.

They had lived together for twelve years in childlessness, but within two years of their arrival in San Buenaventura they had presented their country with no less than five children, products, so they declared, of the matchless climate!

The first lumber-yard was kept by Thomas Dennis, but the date of his arrival is not given. Very early in the '50's T. Wallace More obtained a title to an immense tract of the richest land in the region; he claimed over thirty miles along the Santa Clara and in other districts, possessions about as enormous, over which grazed 10,000 head of cat­tle. These lands were valued at ten to fifty cents the acre. During this period the whole Colonia Rancho was sold for $5,000, and this price the purchaser finally concluded was exorbitant. About 1854 W. D. Hobson removed to the Sespe, where he built a house and there lived in 1859. In 1858, the Amer­icans resident in San Buenaventura were: A. M. Cameron, Griffin Robbins, W. T. Nash, W. Williams, James Beebe, -- Park, W. D. Hobson, -- McLaughlin and one other, name unknown. As late as 1860 there were but nine American voters in the precinct. Chaffee & Robbins, and afterward Chaffee & Gilbert, kept the only store in the town for many years. In 1860 the Fourth of July was celebrated here with a regular program of exercises, and much enthusiasm was displayed. About this time the American population was augmented by the arrival of John Hill, V. A. Simpson, Albert Martin, G. S. Briggs, G. S. Gilbert, W. S. Chaffee, W. A. Norway, H. P. Flint, the Barnetts and Messrs. Burbank, Hankerson, Crane and Harrington.

In 1861 a postoffice was established at San Buenaventura, and V. A. Simpson be­came postmaster. The mail matter received, apparently, was not extensive, for it is related that on its arrival the postmaster was in the habit of depositing it in his hat, and then walking around among the citizens to deliver the letters. "This," says a previous historian, "may be regarded as the first introduction of the system of letter-carriers in Cali­fornia." This year the first brick house in town was built by W. D. Hobson, who moved hither from the Sespe.

During the winter of 1861–'62, there was an excessive amount of wet weather; rain fell for sixty consecutive days; all the land to a great depth was saturated and reeking; live stock was reduced almost to starvation, the animals dying in, great numbers. Landslides were very frequent, half of the soil in certain localities being moved to a greater or less distance. The soil would often be dis­placed in patches of an acre or more. In the town various houses were submerged, or car­ried away bodily. The only life lost was that of Mr. Hewitt, a resident of Santa Barbara, who was drowned while on a prospecting tour up the Pim Creek. Travel was rendered almost impossible for twenty days. In 1862 Messrs. Waterman, Vassault & Co., owning the lands of the ex-mission, laid out a town there. This enterprise had been projected as early as 1848, when Don Jose Arnaz laid out here a town site, and advertised the advan­tages of the spot in Eastern journals, offering lots to those who would make improvements upon them. This offer had not elicited re­sponse, and the subject had not been revived until the project above mentioned. The sur­vey made in this instance was rejected by the board of trustees after the town was incorporated, and another was substituted. The first attempt to incorporate was in 1863, when a number of citizens met and drew up a petition addressed to the Legislature, ask­ing for incorporation. Ramon J. Hill, at that time a member from Santa Barbara County, opposed the proposition, and the sub­ject was dropped for the time.

The following is given as an accurate list of the foreign, [not Spanish or Mexican] citizens resident in San Buenaventura in 1862: Baptiste Ysoardy, who came in 1858; Agustin Solari, in 1857; Victor Ususaus­tegui, in 1852; Ysidro Obiols, in 1853; An­tonio Sciappapietra in 1862; John Thomp­89 II, in 1862; Oscar Wells, George V. Whit man, Albert and Frank Martin, in 1859; Myron Warner, in 1863; William Pratt, 1866; William Whitney, 1864; Thomas R. Bard, in 1865; Henry Cohn, in 1866; Joseph Wolfson, 1867; -- Clements, 1868; Thomas Williams, 1866; A. T. Herring, 1863; Henry Spears, 1865; Walter S. Chaffee, Volney A. Simpson, John T. Stow, Griffin Robbins, William S. Riley, William T. Nash, Jefferson Crane, John Hill, Henry Clifton, Marshall Routh, George S. Gilbert, James Beebe, William H. Leighton, Samuel Barnett, Sr., Samuel Barnett, Jr., William Barnett, W. D. Hobson, Alex. Cameron, Mel­vin Beardsley, George Dodge, George S. Briggs, Albert de Chateauneuf and Henry Dubbers.

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS

In 1864 the question of incorporation was renewed and accomplished, but it was not until thirteen years later that the patents to the town site were received from the Govern­ment. This was the year of the disastrous ""dry season;" the rains of the preceding sea­son had not wet the ground deeper than three inches, and the feed was therefore a failure. From this cause two-thirds of all the stock in Ventura famished.

The beginning of growth and development in Ventura is agreed to date back to the sub­division into small tracts of the large ranchos, thus inducing immigration and settlement by small farmers and fruit-raisers. In 1866, the Briggs tract was cut up and put on the market, and two years later began a general influx of Americans, from which directly re­sulted an epoch of prosperity which became assured with the breaking up and selling to actual settlers of the great ranchos of Santa Paula y Saticoy and Colonia or Santa Clara.

The first cultivation of grain in Ventura County was by Christian Borchard and his son, J. A. Borchard, on the Colonia Rancho in 1867. Thirty acres each of wheat and barley were sown. The rust destroyed the wheat crop, but the barley yielded eighteen centals or hundreds per acre.

The first Protestant church (Congregational) was organized in San Buenaventura in 1867.

Again in 1867 was San Buenaventura visited by devastating waters. On Christ­mas Day of that year the Ventura River overflowed, and the water rose to a depth of three feet in Main Street. The lower part of the town was submerged, and the safety of the inhabitants was endangered. The land from the Santa Clara House to the river was flooded, and forty-seven women, gathered from the imperiled houses, were assembled in one small adobe shanty. Some of these had been brought from their flooded homes on horse­back, and others had been carried on the shoulders of men. This episode gave rise to various feats of real gallantry, courage, and daring. The immediate cause of the freshet was supposed to be the melting of heavy deposits of snows about the river's source, through the agency of warm rains falling upon them.

In 1868 came hither Dr. Cephas L. Bard, the first American physician in San Buenaventura.

In September, 1870, San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara were placed in telegraphic communication.
Anticipating the needs and opportunities to result from the creation of the new county, in immediate prospective, John H. Bradley in April, 1871, started the Ventura Signal at the proposed new county-seat. Mr. Bradley was a good and practical business man, and an editor of some experience; and so, avoiding the political issues not properly within the province of a country newspaper, he devoted his attention to the production and publication of matter relative to the recommendations and resources of the section; such as would contribute to the advancement and advertisement of the region and its merits.

Contemporaneously with the formation of the county, work was begun to provide canals to supply water for domestic and irrigating purposes. The old Mission waterworks, which brought a supply from six miles up the Ventura River, was overhauled and re­paired, portions of the aqueduct having been destroyed by the excessive rains of 1861–'62.

Owing to the difficulties attending the disembarkation of freight and passengers by means of lighters to transport them between the vessels and the shore; it became evident that a wharf was an absolute necessity to the public. Accordingly, in January, 1871, a franchise was procured, and work was begun upon the structure, by Joseph Wolfson. The beginning of operations was signalized by formal ceremonies. In August of this year the right to construct a wharf at Hueneme was granted to Thos. R. Bard, C. L. Bard and R. G. Surdam.

By February, 18721 the Ventura wharf was so far completed as to obviate further necessity for lightening steamers now discharging directly upon it. Rates of toll were instituted, and an instrument of great public utility was firmly established.

In May, 1871, was formed the Santa Clara Irrigating Company, designed to water the fertile lands of the Colonia Rancho from the Santa Clara River. The canal therefor was twelve miles long, twelve feet wide, and two feet deep, with branches of smaller dimensions. In 1871 also surveys were made for " The Farmers' Canal and Water Ditch," taking water from the Santa Paula Creek, and con­veying it some eight and a half miles down the valley.
In December, 1871, Ysabel Yorba sold to Dickenson & Funk the Guadalasca Rancho, comprising 22,000 acres, for $28,500.

In 1872 many property owners refused to pay taxes, owing to the abeyance of financial settlement between Ventura and Santa Bar­bara counties.

In July, 1872, the first gold was taken to Santa Barbara from, the Sespe mines.
On September 16, 1872, the corner-stone of the high school building at San Buena­ventura was laid. This building was the first 'public building erected in the county. The total number of school children in the .county at that time was 800.

A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California
Mrs Yda Addis Storke, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891: Pages 183-186
Transcribed: 19 July 2006 by Martha A Crosley Graham

WESTERN PORTION OF VENTURA

The country drained by the San Buenaventura River is mostly comprised within the limits of the following ranchos: - The Canada San Miguelito and a part of the ex-Mission, both bordering on the ocean; the Canada Largo or Canada Verde, and the Ojai on the left bank, and the Santa Ana on the right bank.

The vast domain of the ex-Mission Rancho was granted as six leagues to Jose Arnaz, by Governor Pio Pico, June 8, 1816. Arnaz sold it to M. A. R. Poli in 1850. The claim was confirmed May 15, 1855, by the Land Commissioner, and finally, on April 1, 1861, by the United States District Court. In August, 1874, a patent was issued to the grantees for 48,822.91 acres. Poli sold the property to the San Buenaventura Manufacturing and Mining Company. He afterward died insolvent. This rancho derives its name from the fact that a division was made of the lands held in the name of the old Mission, the church retaining the old orchard and 36 27/100 acres contiguous, all lands outside these are called ex-Mission lands. At the sale of lands for delinquent taxes, February 16, 1874, the ex-Mission lands were offered for sale without a buyer, the taxes amounting to $3,163, drawing interest at two per cent per month. This region is one of almost continuous settlements, with easy outlets. The soil is exceedingly rich to the very crests of the hills, and the climate is unsurpassed. The lands are agricultural and grazing. This territory is luxuriantly covered wild oats, wild burr-clover, and alfilaria. A short distance back from the sea are forests of oaks, not readily seen save from close at hand. The bee pasturage is rich and extensive. The oil belt underlies a portion of this rancho.

THE RANCHO CANADA SAN MIGUELITO

This is next northwest of the ex-Mission Rancho. It has about three miles of coast line. This grant of 8,877.04 acres was confirmed to J.F. Rodriguez and others. This rancho consists almost wholly of rich pasture lands, raising great numbers of sheep. Very little timber is found here. The ocean road from San Buenaventura to Santa Barbara passes along the beach here. On Government land close by this rancho is a mine of so-called rock soap, being an infusorial earth resembling marl. It has been exported for polishing silverware, and for use by jewelers for burnishing purposes.

RANCHO CANADA LARGA ó VERDE

was granted to J. Alvarado, who pushed the claim to confirmation. It contains about 2,220 acres, of which all is grazing land but about 1,000 acres, which are well cultivated, and upon which are found fine orchards and handsome homes.

THE OJAI RANCHO.

This is a wedge-shaped tract which was granted to Fernando Tico, April 6,1837, and afterward confirmed to him; acreage 17,792.70. In 1864 this rancho was bought by the California Petroleum Company. It was then a very wild place; a dozen or more grizzly bears were killed in Ojai Valley in one winter, and hundreds teem thereabouts, as well as California lions, wild cats, etc. Lion Caňon was so named from the great number of these panthers that it harbored. Dr. Chauncey Isbell lived here as early as 1866, and in October, 1868, Robert Ayers removed thither his family, the first American household in the valley, where a few Spanish Californian families were living. In 1870 but two houses, one frame, one adobe, were in the Upper Ojai. In 1872 this rancho produced about 16,200 bushels of wheat, averaging thirty to forty bushels to the acre. A grange was organized here in 1874, and, in 1875, there were two school districts, the Ojai and the Nordhoff. The settlement of this section has been most rapid; within four years from the time when the inhabitants were less than half a dozen it had nearly 100, forming an enterprising and intelligent community. The fertility of this soil is hardly surpassed in California; here the wheat crop reaches its maximum as to quality and quantity. No irrigation is used for the small grain crops. Artesian water is obtained at Nordhoff, but it rises little above the surface. On the hills all the usual northern farm crops thrive remarkably well, as also many fruits, etc. considered semi-tropical in character.

THE OJAI VALLEY

Almost in a straight line due north from San Buenaventura, from which town it is fourteen miles distant, lies the valley of the Ojai, shut in by high mountains, that determine the amphitheater-like shape whence it takes its name (a nest).

The mountains on the north side take a snowy covering in winter, in sharp contrast with the slopes of sulphur mountain, covered with live-oaks on the south side. Overlooking the others rises Mount Topotopa, between 5,000 and 6,000 feet high, also snow-mantled in the winter.

The drive to the lower Ojai follows an easily grade along a beautiful clear stream where trout sport and twinkle. The Upper Ojai, to the eastward of the main valley, is reached by a steep grade up an oak-covered ridge leading out of the lower valley. The soil here is rich and fertile, and plentifully watered, and its crops never fail.

Attention was first called to this valley by Charles Nordhoff, who visited it in 1872, and soon after, in his book on California, gave an enthusiastic description of it.

The lower valley is five miles long, and 800 feet above sea-level; the upper is small with an elevation of about 1,200 feet. This basin is well-timbered, and its soil is very productive, giving the largest yield in the county of wheat per acre. It is also well adapted for raising the finest varieties of citrus fruits. Mr. Elwood Cooper, the famous olive-grower, says that the Ojai is also the best olive-growing district in California.

The scenery here is truly wonderful; the softy and balmy air, the park-like groves of oaks, their mistletoe, the vines and mosses, the bird voices within their leafage, the grandeur of the surrounding mountains, the cloud effects - all combine to give an indescribable charm to the Ojai Valley.

But there is another advantage; the delightful climate is of great benefit to sufferers from affections of the throat and lungs, and the famous Ojai Hot Springs in the Matilija Canon are possessed of strong curative properties.

The Ojai Hot Sulphur Springs are beautifully situated in Waterfall Canon, about five miles from Nordhoff and fifteen from Ventura. The altitude at the springs is about 1,000 feet. The flow is about 50,000 gallons per hour, and the temperature ranges from 60° F. to 74° and 101° F. Several of the springs are carbonated and others are sulphureted. The Ojai waters contain: sodium, potassium and magnesium carbonates and sulphates, calcium and ferrous carbonates, silicates, carbonic anhydride and sulphurated hydrogen. The waters have a reputation for whitening and softening the skin, and proving the complexion. These springs are the resort of many people afflicted with stiff joints, rheumatism, gout and skin diseases.

Almost in the center of this lovely valley, and nearly 900 feet above the sea, 4 the village of Nordhoff, so named in recognition of Charles Nordhoff's offices in heralding to the outside world the merits of this quarter.

Mr. R. G. Surdam, if not the first, was one of the prime movers in starting this flourishing little town, he having bought sixty acres, which he laid off in blocks and lots in 1874. He gave a one-third interest to A. M. Blumberg, on condition that he build a hotel. That structure, which at first was made of light scantling covered with cloth, has developed and grown into quite a sightly hostelry, the nucleus of a thrifty little village. Nordhoff contains some 300 inhabitants, many of whom are recuperated invalids from nearly every State in the Union. There are here two hotels, nestled under the splendid oaks, two churches, two schoolhouses, two general merchandise stores, two blacksmiths, a builder, contractor and lumber-dealer, and a butcher-shop. There is a weekly newspaper and a postoffice with daily mail.

SANTA ANA VALLEY

Westward from the Ojai are a number of broad mesas and thickly-populated uplands, which constitute the Santa Ana Valley, on whose well-cultivated farms and orchards are raised as fine fruits as any Ventura County produces. This is all a fine grain country, where wheat reaches its maximum as to height, quantity and quality. This valley is a twin sister to the Ojai in its climate, soil and resources, and also probably with quite as much water and timber, but this valley contains less arable land than the Ojai.

Here is a region of forests; timber of majestic size, and an undergrowth of wild oats, wild grasses, wild gooseberries, rhododendron and honeysuckle, while wild grapes clamber over the trees along the creeks and the river.

A portion of this territory has as great an altitude as the Ojai, but it is much lower where it approaches the San Buenaventura Valley. Above this section the Ventura River descends rapidly, passing by cascades over highlands, but it flows more tranquilly when it reaches the table-like lands of the Ojai and Santa Ana ranchos. Here it gathers volume from the water of the San Antonio and Coyote creeks, the former flowing from the east, the other from the west; and hence forward to the sea it flows with gentle current. All three of these are fine trout streams.

THE RANCHO SANTA ANA

This tract of 21,522.04 acres was, in April, 1837, granted to Crisogono Ayala and others, and to them confirmed. This lies but two miles from the Santa Barbara line, and it is the most northerly rancho in Ventura County. The Coyote Creek crosses this forest-hooded rancho, of which nearly 10,000 acres would be good arable land, if cleared of its timber, In May, 1875, this rancho was surveyed in lots, which were to be sold on terms similar to those of the Lompoc colony lands. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $60,000, in shares of $100 each. Among the estimated resources were 6,000 acres of arable land, other 6,000 tillable with side-hill plows, and 75,000 cords of wood. The temperance principle was to be a leading feature of this settlement. The project was never carried to fulfillment.