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and has undergone a metamorphosis into a charming area with galleries, wonderful restaurants and shopping. Primary areas of activity include California Street and Main Street between Ventura Avenue and Fir Street. Fast. Numerous thrift stores contrast with high-end shops and restaurants. It is home to the Mission San Buenaventura and the Ventura County Museum, and to the Ventura's ornate City Hall building with its signature statue of Junipero Serra.
Downtown hosts two theatrical venues, the Rubicon Theater, a renowned intimate theatre with award-winning productions, and Ventura Majestic Theatre, a beautiful Downtown hosts two theatrical venues, the Rubicon Theater, a renowned intimate theatre with award-winning productions, and Ventura Majestic Theatre, a beautiful early century theatre, which serves as a venue for concerts.
Ventura has a reputation for excellent surfing, especially Surfers' Point. Walk to the beach promenade from downtown and discover the beach and a bike path that goes for miles along the coast. You will also find Ventura's fairgrounds, home of the Ventura County Fair, and over the years host to such acts as The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Smokey Robinson.
A new addition to the cultural arts in the Westside is the Bell Arts Factory, with over 20 working artists in this historic factory showroom.
The Olivas Adobe, one of the early California Rancho homes, is operated today as a museum and performing arts venue. Located adjacent to the Olivas Park Golf Course, the home is one of the most visited historic sites on the central coast. Living history reenactments, demonstrations of Rancho life, and wonderful ghost stories abound. A summer music series of performances held in the old home's courtyard feature an eclectic assortment of artists from blues to jazz to country.
Ventura Neighborhoods
Ventura offers a variety of neighborhoods, each unique either because of its location or the style and age of homes. The hills and the ocean make Ventura unique in that one could choose to live at the beach or in a view home. Ventura has classic craftsman homes, Spanish cottages, 50s and 60s homes and many large custom homes.
Harbors
Ventura is home to the Ventura Harbor, the gateway to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands National Park Headquarters and Visitors Center is located in this harbor, and boats to the Channel Islands depart from there daily. The Channel Islands are a National Treasure and home to one of the most diverse ecosystems on our planet. They offer a wide variety of spectacular natural wonders, both above and below the surface. Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands form the Channel Islands. Hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking and diving all await you. Half, full and multi-day trips are all conveniently available from a variety of providers located in the Ventura Harbor.
The Ventura Harbor is home to fishing industry, seafood restaurants and a shopping village at Ventura Harbor Village. Also here is The Ventura Yacht Club, a private facility offering a wide variety of boating related activities.
Education
Ventura has excellent schools. There are two college campuses in Ventura, the Brooks Institute of Photography, and Ventura College, a community college. Ventura County´s first four-year public university, California State University Channel Islands, opened in 2002. Minutes from the Pacific Ocean, the 670-acre campus rests at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains, halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Public school students from kindergarten through twelfth grade attend schools in the Ventura Unified School District. The district has two comprehensive high schools: Ventura High in the midtown area and Buena High in east Ventura. Students from throughout the district may attend Foothill Technology High School, a magnet school focusing on technology and health careers. Private schools include St. Bonaventure High School, a Catholic school, and Ventura County Christian High School, an evangelical Christian school.
Climate
The city is situated in a Mediterranean, or dry subtropical climate zone, experiencing mild winters that are warmer than average, and mild summers that are cooler than average. Onshore breezes keep Ventura cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those further inland. The average mean temperature is 60 degrees. Average minimum temperature is 52.4 degrees and the average maximum temperature is 70 degrees. Generally the weather is cool and dry, with 354 days of sunshine a year.
History
Father Junipero Serra founded Mission San Buenaventura in 1782, forming the basis of what would become the city. On July 6, 1841, Governor granted the 4,694 acre Rancho San Miguel to Felipe Lorenzana and Raimundo Olivas whose Olivas Adobe on the banks of the Santa Clara River was the most magnificent hacienda south of Monterey.
After the American Civil War, settlers came to the area, 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.
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.
July 4 celebration in Ventura, 1874. Parade Marshall is Thomas R. Bard.
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 Citrus Growers, Incorporated, the world's largest organization of citrus production.
From the south, travel by auto was slow and hazardous, until the completion of a four-lane expressway U.S. Highway 101 over the Conejo Grade in 1959. This route, now further widened and improved by 1969 is known as the Ventura Freeway, which directly links Ventura with the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
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 105,000.
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