Ventura River

Ventura Raceway is a 1/5 mile, high-banked clay oval racetrack located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California, United States. It is owned and operated by Jim Naylor, who is also the track announcer. In 2010 Jim was inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame for being the oldest and only successful professional sports franchise in Ventura County history. Ventura Raceway is also home to Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car Driving School and the VRA sprint cars. Since 2016, it has served as the home of the Turkey Night Grand Prix.A 1/2 mile dirt oval operated at the fairgrounds from July 28, 1924 through around 1927 (this track had run motorcycles from 1910 through 1923). A 1/5 mile dirt oval was used for midgets on November 11, 1934. A 1/10 mile dirt oval operated from July 4, 1978 through 1984 (this was originally used for speedway motorcycles beginning in 1969.) The 1/5 mile oval opened in 1985. A 1/5 mile dirt figure 8 was added in 2000. The track has also operated as Seaside Park Speedway. On a weekly basis the track is home to many types of dirt track racecars including wingless sprint cars, midgets, dwarf cars, stock cars, modifieds, sport compacts, and karts.

Seaside Park (commonly known as the Ventura County Fairgrounds) is an event venue in Ventura, California, United States. The 62-acre site (25 ha) is the home of the Ventura County Fair. Trade shows, concerts, and other events are held throughout the year at the fairgrounds. The beachfront site, near the mouth of the Ventura River, also includes Surfers' Point, known for its point break that produces distinctive waves. The original 65 acres (26 ha) were donated to the County of Ventura by Eugene Preston Foster and Orpha Foster, who envisioned the Seaside Park as a miniature Golden Gate Park. The Fosters wanted a beautiful gateway to Ventura, where families could walk and picnic, play tennis, and enjoy family outings. Most of the site is now owned by the State of California and is managed by the 31st District Agricultural Association, an independent state agency.

The Ventura County Fair is an annual event held each August in Ventura, California, United States, at Seaside Park, commonly called the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The fair includes an agricultural show, carnival rides, food booths, and nightly concerts.

Ortega Adobe is a historic adobe house built in 1857 and located on Main Street on the west side of Ventura, California, not far from the mouth of the Ventura River. It was designated in 1974 as the City of Ventura's Historic Landmark No. 2. It is owned by the City and operated as a self-guided historical site. Ortega Adobe is the City's "only remaining example of a 'middle class' home of the late 1800s." At one time, much of Ventura's Main Street was lined with adobe homes. The Ortega Adobe is the only one to survive.

Ventura station (referred to as Ventura–Downtown/Beach station by Metrolink) is a passenger rail station in downtown Ventura, California. The station is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Ten Pacific Surfliner trains serve the station daily. Of the 73 California stations served by Amtrak, Ventura was the 33rd-busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 125 passengers daily. The single platform is located on the south side of the tracks with a view of the Santa Barbara Channel and the Channel Islands. The Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) is parallel with and on the north side of tracks. Ventura station is served by ten Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (five in each direction) evenly spaced throughout the day.Metrolink’s Ventura County Line terminus is in Montalvo at the Ventura–East station since overnight storage of trains in the downtown area was impractical. Special service trains may come to this station such as service to the Ventura County Fair, in season. In March 2022, Metrolink announced that Ventura County Line trains will terminate at this station sometime in the future.

Feraud General Merchandise Store, also known as 1903 Building, was built in 1903 in Ventura, California. Jules Feraud opened the Feraud Bakery and Grocery Store and the bakery stayed in the family until 1944. The brick building is a rare intact example of turn-of-the-century commercial architecture during Second Land Boom (1887 – 1905) after the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Ventura.: 38  The City Council of Ventura designated the building Historic Landmark Number 35 by resolution on July 17, 1978. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Babe Ruth Field was a ballpark in Ventura, California, United States, named after the famous baseball player George Herman ("Babe") Ruth, (1895–1948), of Baltimore, that was used as a minor-league park from 1948 to 1955. Tenant franchises (all of the old California League) included the Ventura Yankees, (1947–1949), the Ventura Braves, (1950–1952), and the Channel Cities Oilers, (1954–1955).The site of the old stadium is now the Ventura County Fairgrounds adjacent parking lot, now directly in front of the Ventura train platform/station, served by Amtrak's (National Rail Passenger Corp.), West Coastal trains, the Pacific Surfliner, from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, and the non-stop express Coast Starlight. This broad flat area adjacent to the Pacific Ocean beach has been known as "Seaside Park" after Eugene P. (E. P.) and Orpha Foster donated the land to the public. They envisioned a beautiful waterfront gateway to the town of Ventura, where families could walk, picnic, and enjoy family outings.

Mission San Buenaventura (Spanish: Misión San Buenaventura), formally known as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura, is a Catholic parish and basilica in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The parish church in the city of Ventura, California, United States, is a Spanish mission founded by the Order of Friars Minor. Founded on March 31, 1782, it was the ninth Spanish mission established in Alta California (or Nueva California) and the last to be established by the head of the Franciscan missions in California, Junípero Serra. Designated a California Historical Landmark, the mission is one of many locally designated landmarks in downtown Ventura. The mission was named after St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century Franciscan saint, one of the early leaders of the Order to which the friars belonged, and a Doctor of the Church. On June 9, 2020, Pope Francis elevated the church to a minor basilica, and on July 15, 2020, the feast day of its patron saint, the announcement of the Pope's action was made and the elevation of the mission's status was officially proclaimed by Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles. The name of the mission was changed to reflect this new status in the Catholic Church.Mission San Buenaventura was planned to be founded in 1770, but the founding was delayed because of the low availability of the military escorts needed to establish the mission. In 1793, the first church burned down. When the mission was completed, it included an adjacent quadrangle with living and work space. All that remains of the original mission is the church and its garden.

The San Miguel Chapel Site is an archeological site in Ventura, California, United States, at the location of the first outpost and center of operations that was established while the first Mission San Buenaventura was being constructed. The San Miguel Chapel was located just outside the southwest corner of the walled garden that was constructed as part of the ultimate layout of the mission complex. The open space park is located at the southwest corner of Thompson Boulevard and Palm Street in downtown Ventura. Interpretative signs and public art have been added to the site, which is protected and managed as a natural environment by the city parks department.

The Peirano Market, also known as Peirano's Grocery and Peirano Store, is a historic building in Ventura, California. Located across the street from the Mission San Buenaventura, the red brick structure was built in 1877 and has ornamental relief brickwork and a mansard, Spanish revival tile roof.The building housed a general merchandise store and later, a grocery store operated by the Peirano family for more than 100 years from the 1880s to the 1980s. The building was designated in 1978 as City of Ventura Historic Landmark No. 32. In 1991, archaeological remains of the San Buenaventura Mission Lavanderia were discovered beneath the building and were designated as Ventura Historic Landmark No. 85. The building is also a contributing property within the Mission San Buenaventura Historic District. The Peirano Market building was acquired in 1987 by the San Buenaventura Redevelopment Agency and was unoccupied for more than 10 years. From August 1998 until January 2016, the building housed Jonathan's at Peirano's and later Peirano's Restaurant and the Red Room. The building has been vacant since January 2016 but is scheduled to re-open in 2018 as Peirano's Market & Delicatessen.

The Emmanuel Franz House is an Italianate style Victorian historical residence located within downtown Ventura, in coastal Ventura County, California.The wood and brick Franz House was built from 1879 to 1891. The house has an interesting front stoop and widow's watch.The City Council of Ventura designated this building Historic Landmark Number 21 by resolution on March 29, 1976. The house was listed in 1982 on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Serra Cross, sometimes also known as the Cross on the Hill or the Grant Park Cross, is a Christian cross on a hill known as "La Loma de la Cruz" in Ventura, California. The site is in Serra Cross Park, a one-acre parcel within the larger Grant Park that overlooks downtown Ventura, the Santa Barbara Channel, and Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands. According to some accounts, the first cross was erected at the site in 1782 at the time of the founding of the Mission San Buenaventura. The cross has been replaced several times, including known instances in the early 1860s under the supervision of Father John Campala, in 1912 by the E. C. O. Club, and in 1941 by the Alice M. Bartlett Club (successor to the E. C. O. Club). The site was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 113 in 1933; it was also designated in 1974 as City of Ventura Historical Landmark No. 5. In 2003, the threat of litigation over the city's use of public funds to maintain a religious symbol on city-owned land resulted in a settlement pursuant to which the city agreed to dim the lighting of the cross and sold a one-acre site underlying the cross to a private, non-profit organization that is now known as the Serra Cross Conservancy.