Principal Events in

The History of the Ojai Valley

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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 (at right) 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’s California Petroleum Company Oil Well No. 6 gushes.

1868 – Thomas Bard (at right) 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. Build 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.

1875 - First brick schoolhouse. John Montgomery donated land for the first school in the lower Ojai. The Nordhoff Grammar School stood on land now occupied by 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 – The Presbyterian Church organizes (the first 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.

1889 - First Church. American Colonial Revival structure built by Presbyterians. In this photo, a new bell is hoisted to the belfry.

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 Library opens (now the Ojai Public Library).

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 grammar school moves to a new two-story school house.

1895 – William Thacher organizes the Athletic Club and the Tennis Club.

First Ojai Hotel, 1874, by Blumberg

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 – The first Ojai Tennis Tournament is staged with 500 players.

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

1899 – The King’s Daughters are organized (Ojai Valley Woman’s Club).

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

1900 – Dr. Saeger is a faithful family physician.

1900 - Ojai Avenue. These buildings were replaced 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.

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 (on campus that is now Matilija Junior High School).

1909 – The Charles Pratt house is constructed (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 (designed by Myron Hunt & Elmer Grey).

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 – The arcade, post office and pergola are constructed (designed by Richard Requa).

1917 – The first Ojai Day is celebrated (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 and devastates the residential portion of town.

1917 – A second fire 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 (now the Oaks at Ojai, designed by Richard Requa).

1922 – Jiddu Krishnamurti first visits the valley.

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

1923 – The clubhouse at the Ojai Valley Country Club is constructed (now 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).

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.

Snowy Topa Topa, circa 1935

1939 – Dr. Charles Butler leads in founding the Ojai Community Art Center.

The Second World War

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

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

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

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


Igor Stravinsky	Aaron Copeland

1955 – Camp Ramah opens at the site of the former California Preparatory School.

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

Right: Pierre Boulez, 2003 Daly Road Graphics

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.

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 105^th birthday.

1999 – The pergola and memorial fountain are reconstructed.

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

Ojai Tennis Tourney Photo: Daly Road Graphics