Ventura, California

Incorporated in 1866, the city of San Buenaventura (usually referred to as Ventura) is the county seat of Ventura County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 100,916. Ventura is accessible via U.S. Highway 101, California State Route 33, and California State Route 126.

History

Father Junípero Serra founded Mission San Buenaventura in 1782, forming the basis of what would become the city. In 1841, the Spanish government granted the Rancho San Miguel to Raimundo Olivas, whose Olivas Adobe on the banks of the Santa Clara River was the most magnificent hacienda south of Monterey.

Related Topics:
Junípero Serra - Mission San Buenaventura - 1782 - 1841 - Spanish - Rancho San Miguel - Raimundo Olivas - Olivas Adobe - Santa Clara River - Hacienda - Monterey

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After the American Civil War, settlers came to the area either as property owners, buying land from the Mexicans, or simply as squatters. Vast holdings were later acquired by Easterners, including the railroad magnate, Thomas Scott. He was impressed by one of the young employees, Thomas R. Bard, who had been in charge of train supplies to Union troops, and Bard was sent west to handle Scott's property.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Squatter - Railroad - Magnate - Thomas Scott - Thomas R. Bard - Union

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Bard is often regarded as the Father of Ventura and his descendants have been prominently identified with the growth of Ventura County. The Union Oil Company was organized with Bard as President in 1890, and has offices in Santa Paula. The main Ventura oil field was drilled in 1914 and at its peak produced 90,000 barrels a day. The city is located between the Ventura River and the Santa Clara River, leading to soil so fertile that citrus grew better here than anywhere else in the state. The citrus farmers formed Sunkist Growers, Incorporated, the world's largest organization of citrus production.

Related Topics:
Union Oil Company - 1890 - Santa Paula - Oil field - 1914 - Ventura River - Santa Clara River - Citrus - Sunkist Growers, Incorporated

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Not easily accessible, Ventura was not a target of immigrants, and as such, remained quiet and rural. For most of the century which followed the incorporation of Ventura in 1866, it remained isolated from the rest of the state.

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From the south, travel by auto was slow and hazardous, until the completion of the Ventura Freeway from Los Angeles to Ventura in 1969.

Related Topics:
Ventura Freeway - Los Angeles - 1969

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From the north, entrance was by way of a single road along the beach and stagecoach passengers either had to wait until low tide when the horses could cross on the exposed wet sand, or go up the Ventura River Valley and then cross over the mountains to Santa Barbara via Casitas Pass, a long and difficult trip.

Related Topics:
Stagecoach - Santa Barbara - Casitas Pass

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Inland, Ventura was hemmed in by (what is now) the Los Padres National Forest, composed of mountainous country and deep canyons. This route became passable with the completion of the Maricopa Highway in the 1920s.

Related Topics:
Los Padres National Forest - Maricopa Highway - 1920s

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Since then, Ventura has grown steadily. In 1920 there were 4,156 people. In 1930 the population had increased to 11,603, and by 1950 the population reached 16,643. In the last two decades it has quadrupled to approximately 102,000.

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