Ventura County Historic Landmarks & Points of Interest Facts for Kids

The Ventura County Historic Landmarks & Points of Interest are special buildings, places, and neighborhoods in Ventura County, California. They have been chosen by the county's Cultural Heritage Board because they are important to history.

The county started this program in August 1968. The first two places chosen were the Faulkner House (VCHL No. 1) in Santa Paula and the Edwards Adobe in Saticoy (VCHL No. 2).

Many of these special places are in cities like Santa Paula (31 landmarks) and Simi Valley (28 landmarks). Other cities with many landmarks include Oxnard, Fillmore, Port Hueneme, Ojai, Thousand Oaks, Piru, and Saticoy. The City of Ventura has its own list of 111 historical landmarks.

Ventura County's Historic Landmarks: A Closer Look
Ventura County's Points of Interest
Images for kids

Ventura County's Historic Landmarks: A Closer Look

These are some of the most interesting historic landmarks in Ventura County. Each one has a unique story!

Early Landmarks (1968-1970)

Faulkner House (VCHL No. 1): This beautiful farmhouse in Santa Paula was built in 1894. It has a cool three-story tower with eight sides! Today, it's a learning center for farming.
Edwards Adobe (VCHL No. 2): Located in Saticoy, this two-story house was built way back in 1860. It mixes Mexican and American building styles.
Cook Mansion (VCHL No. 4): Found in Piru, this grand mansion was built in 1886. It burned down in 1981 but was rebuilt just two years later! It's also known as the Piru Mansion.
Rancho Arnaz Adobe (VCHL No. 5): This adobe house in Oak View was built in 1863. It's the oldest home in the county that people have lived in continuously.
Simi Adobe–Strathearn House (VCHL No. 6): Built in 1810, this adobe in Simi Valley is part of the Strathearn Historical Park. It's a very important historical site.
Don Adolfo Camarillo House (VCHL No. 8): This house in Camarillo was built in 1893. It's a key part of the Camarillo Ranch.

The historic Camarillo Ranch House.
Santa Clara Schoolhouse (VCHL No. 9): This one-room schoolhouse in Santa Paula was built in 1896-97. It's also called the "Little Red Schoolhouse."
Ventura County Courthouse (VCHL No. 12): Built in 1912, this grand building in Ventura is now the City Hall. It has cool decorations and a copper dome.

The old Ventura County Courthouse, now City Hall.
Oxnard Carnegie Library (VCHL No. 13): This library in Oxnard was built in 1906-07 with money from Andrew Carnegie. It later became an art museum.

The Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard.

Nature and Old Sites

Row of Eucalyptus Trees (VCHL No. 3): A long row of 1,000 eucalyptus trees planted in 1892 for a ranch in Camarillo.
Point Mugu Recreation Area/State Park (VCHL No. 14): This area near Point Mugu has remains of a Chumash village that was used for 6,000 years! It also has the largest remaining grassland in California.

Point Mugu State Park.
Naumann Giant Gum Tree and Eucalyptus Rows (VCHL No. 15): Another row of eucalyptus trees planted around 1900 in Oxnard.
Libbey Park Bowl Sycamore Tree (VCHL No. 27): This sycamore tree in Ojai is over 200 years old and was used in Chumash ceremonies.
San Buenaventura Mission Aqueduct (VCHL No. 28): This seven-mile long aqueduct was built starting in 1792 to bring water to the Mission San Buenaventura.

Part of the San Buenaventura Mission Aqueduct.
Moreton Bay Fig Tree (VCHL No. 79): A large fig tree in Santa Paula that was planted in 1879.
Foster Park Lion Entrance Markers (VCHL No. 34): Two big sandstone lions put up in 1908 at the entrance to Foster Park in Ventura.

One of the lion entrance markers at Foster Park.

Buildings with Cool Stories

Port Hueneme Women's Improvement Club (VCHL No. 19): Built in 1915, this building in Port Hueneme is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Women's Improvement Club of Hueneme.
Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (VCHL No. 23): The very first train station in Ventura County, built in Santa Paula in 1887.

The old Santa Paula Train Depot.
Matilija Hot Springs (VCHL No. 25): A camp and hotel established in 1871 in Ojai, famous for its hot springs.

Matilija Hot Springs around 1905.
Santa Susana Depot (VCHL No. 29): This railroad station in Simi Valley was built in 1903 and now has a railroad museum.

The Santa Susana Depot.
Stagecoach Inn (VCHL No. 30): Originally a hotel built in 1876 in Newbury Park. It was moved in 1965 and rebuilt after a fire.

The Stagecoach Inn in Newbury Park.
Thomas R. Bard Mansion (VCHL No. 31): A beautiful Italian-style mansion built in 1915 for an oil pioneer. It's now an officer's club at a Navy base in Port Hueneme.

The Thomas R. Bard Mansion.
Union Oil Company Building (VCHL No. 36): This building in Santa Paula was the first headquarters for Union Oil Co. It's now the California Oil Museum.

The Union Oil Company Building.
Glen Tavern Inn (VCHL No. 65): A hotel built around 1910 in Santa Paula, known for its Craftsman and English Tudor style.

The Glen Tavern Inn.
Ebell Club of Santa Paula (VCHL No. 76): A Craftsman mansion built in 1917 as a women's club, now a theater center.

The Ebell Club of Santa Paula, now a theater.
Bardsdale Methodist Church (VCHL No. 50): A beautiful Carpenter Gothic style church built in 1898 in Fillmore.

The Bardsdale Methodist Church.
Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village (VCHL No. 52): A unique village made of bottles in Simi Valley.

A part of Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village.
Point Hueneme Lighthouse (VCHL No. 57): The lightworks inside the historic lighthouse in Port Hueneme.

The Point Hueneme Lighthouse.
Corriganville (VCHL No. 150): This was a movie ranch opened in 1937 in Simi Valley. It was also a Western-themed amusement park!

Old foundations at Corriganville Park.
Rancho Camulos (VCHL No. 152): A ranch in Piru used as a setting for a famous novel called Ramona in 1884.

The visitor center at Rancho Camulos.
Henry T. Oxnard Historic District (VCHL No. 161): A historic neighborhood in Oxnard with many old homes.

A house in the Henry T. Oxnard Historic District.
Timber School House and Auditorium (VCHL No. 166): A Mission-style school built around 1924 in Newbury Park.
William Ford Residence (VCHL No. 169): A Spanish Colonial Revival house in Ojai built in 1929, designed by a famous African-American architect, Paul Williams.
Saticoy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (VCHL No. 176): The old train station in Saticoy.

The Saticoy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

Ventura County's Points of Interest

Points of Interest are also special places, but they might not be buildings. They could be old routes, sites of important events, or natural features.

Butterfield Stage Route (POI No. 2): This was a route used by stagecoaches to deliver mail between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It runs through Santa Rosa Valley.
Oxnard Pest Control Insectary Site (POI No. 3): This site in Port Hueneme was once used to breed Australian ladybugs. These ladybugs helped protect the county's citrus farms from pests!
Saticoy Springs and Chumash Indian Village Sa'aqtik'oy Site (POI No. 6): This is the site of a very old Chumash settlement in Saticoy, dating back to 5,500 B.C.
Cesar Chavez Childhood Home Site (POI No. 9): This is where the famous labor leader Cesar Chavez lived as a child in Oxnard in 1939.
Colonial House Restaurant (POI No. 10): This site in Oxnard was once home to the most popular restaurant in Ventura County after WWII. Many movie stars like Marilyn Monroe visited it!