Serra Cross

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.

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 Father Serra statue in Ventura, California, representing Junípero Serra, the founder of Mission San Buenaventura, was commissioned by Ventura County through the Works Progress Administration as part of the Federal Art Project in 1935. This statue, made of concrete from a clay model by Uno John Palo Kangas, was placed in a prominent location in a public park across the street from the Ventura County Courthouse in 1936. After the Courthouse was repurposed as Ventura City Hall, the statue was designated as City of Ventura Historic Landmark No. 3 in 1974. As deterioration of the concrete statue became a concern, a wood replica was created by local carvers and used to make a bronze cast. The concrete statue was replaced by the bronze cast in 1989. The wood replica was set in the atrium of the city hall for public display. The public display of statuary honoring Serra has been a source of controversy, particularly among those alleging that Serra was responsible for the suppression of the culture of Chumash people. The city council decided in 2020 to remove the bronze statue and the wood replica from public display.

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 Ventura County Courthouse, known since 1974 as Ventura City Hall, is a historic building in Ventura, California. It is located on a hill at the top of California Street, overlooking the city's downtown district with views of the Santa Barbara Channel and Channel Islands. It was the first building in the City of Ventura to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has also received historic designations at the state, county and city levels. Built from 1912 to 1913, the Neoclassical courthouse was designed by the noted Los Angeles architect Albert C. Martin Sr. in a Beaux Arts style. The building's facade includes white glazed terra cotta panels and decorations, including 24 whimsical faces of Franciscan friars, fluted Doric columns, a copper-sheathed dome and cupola, as well as Roman-arched windows. The second-floor city council chambers (previously the building's courtroom) include carved mahogany woodwork, stained glass skylights and arched windows overlooking the city and ocean. The courthouse was expanded in the early 1930s with the construction of an annex off the building's west wing. In 1968, the building was declared structurally unsound and county workers relocated. The City of Ventura purchased the building from the county and renovated it at a cost of approximately $3.4 million. The building has served as Ventura City Hall since 1974.

The Ventura Botanical Gardens (44 ha / 107 acres) re-opened November 3, 2018 after widespread damage caused by the Thomas Fire, is located at 567 S. Poli Street in Ventura, California, United States.

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.

The Ventura Theatre is a historic live concert venue in downtown Ventura, California. This was "the only luxury theatre built in Ventura County in the 1920s in the "style of the great movie palaces." The lavish, elegant interior of gilt and opulence was originally designed by Robert E. Power Studios of San Francisco and has been restored. The theatre with a capacity of 1,150 and a flanking office building were designed by architect L. A. Smith in the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that was favored by architects of motion picture theaters during the 1920s.In 1928, Ventura was a bustling oil boom town when the grand opening featured an organ solo, the latest news, Our Gang comedies, a vaudeville act and the movie Excess Baggage. During the period between 1923 and 1929, many other buildings were constructed: the Hobson Brothers Meat Packing Company (1923), the First National Bank of Ventura (1926) (commonly called the Erle Stanley Gardner), the Ventura Hotel (1926), the Elks Lodge - B. P. 0. E. #1430 (1928), the Mission Theater (1928), the Hotel Washington (1928), the Swift & Company Building (1928), and the Masonic Temple (1929). Contemporary downtown Ventura is defined by the theatre and the other extant buildings from this period.Declared a landmark by the City of Ventura In 1976, the theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The office building was modernized in 1958 and was not included in the historic designation. The theater currently has an active concert schedule.

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.

Elizabeth Bard Memorial Hospital, now known as The Elizabeth Bard Memorial Building, is a historic building in downtown Ventura, California. Built in 1901, it is a Mission Revival structure featuring covered terraces and a covered porch with a three-story bell tower at the southeast corner. The building was listed as Ventura Historic Landmark No. 19 in 1976 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. After being operated as a hospital for nearly 30 years, the building was sold to the County of Ventura in 1932. It was used by the county for 44 years as offices for county officials and as a detention facility. In 1982, after being sold to a private investment group, the building was extensively renovated. The building was substantially expanded at the rear of the property, but the historic front and side facades were preserved.

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.

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.