Sycamore Tree (Santa Paula, California)

The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural, mainly agricultural, valley in Ventura County, California that has been given the moniker Heritage Valley by the namesake tourism bureau. The valley includes the communities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru and the national historic landmark of Rancho Camulos. Named for the Santa Clara River, which winds through the valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Ventura and Oxnard, the tourist bureau describes it as ".... Southern California's last pristine agricultural valley nestled along the banks of the free-flowing Santa Clara River."

Rancho Sespe was a 8,881-acre (35.94 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Carlos Antonio Carrillo. The grant encompassed the Santa Clara River Valley between Piru Creek on the east and Santa Paula Creek on the west, and was bounded to the north and south by the mountains, and included present day Fillmore.

Sespe Creek (Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some 61 miles (98 km) long, in Ventura County, southern California, in the Western United States. The creek starts at Potrero Seco in the eastern Sierra Madre Mountains, and is formed by more than thirty tributary streams of the Sierra Madre and Topatopa Mountains, before it empties into the Santa Clara River in Fillmore. Thirty-one miles (50 km) of Sespe Creek is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River and National Scenic Waterway, and is untouched by dams or concrete channels. It is one of the last wild rivers in Southern California. It is primarily within the southern Los Padres National Forest. The name Sespe can be traced to a Chumash Indian village, called Cepsey, Sek-pe or S'eqpe' ("Kneecap") in the Chumash language in 1791. The village appeared in a Mexican Alta California land grant called Rancho Sespe or Rancho San Cayetano in 1833.

Sespe Hot Springs (Chumash: S'eqp'e') are a system of thermal springs and seeps that form a hot spring creek in the mountains near the Sespe Condor Sanctuary near Ojai, California.

Bardsdale United Methodist Church is a historic church located at 1498 Bardsdale Avenue in the unincorporated community of Bardsdale, California, in Ventura County. It is south of the Santa Clara River approximately 3 miles (5 km) from Fillmore. Built in 1898, as Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church, this carpenter Gothic structure with a 60 ft (18 m) bell tower and high-peaked arches has long been a center of community life in Bardsdale. The town's namesake, Thomas R. Bard, donated the land for construction of the church and parsonage. He also donated funds to help purchase two large stained glass windows installed in the north and west walls. When the church opened, in April 1898, the Los Angeles Times reported on its dedication:"The Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated last Sunday by Dr. G.W. White of Los Angeles. The building cost $2550, will seat 350 persons, and has a fine basement fitted for social gatherings. There was $550 remaining due on the building, which was subscribed Sunday morning." On April 23, 1968, the Methodist Church was merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church. The name was then changed to Bardsdale United Methodist Church. A portion of the ceiling fell on a parishioner during a service in 1982, leading to an extensive renovation. The renovation and restoration work included materials purchased from a church in Los Angeles that had closed in 1982. The materials salvaged from that church included stained-glass windows, an oak chancel, chandeliers, pews, marble facing around the interior doors, a hand-carved pulpit, lectern and communion rail.The church also features a Schoenstein pipe organ that was purchased in 1986, with $60,000 donated by parishioners. In a tradition dating back to the mid-1960s, the Bardsdale Chancel Choir performs a free holiday vesper program during the Christmas season.The Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board designated the clapboard church County Landmark #50 in 1979, calling it "the only example of carpenter Gothic in the Fillmore-Bardsdale area." The Gothic church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Bardsdale is a rural unincorporated community and populated place in Ventura County, California. It is located in the orange blossom and agricultural belt of the Santa Clara River Valley, south of the Santa Clara River and on the north slope of South Mountain. The closest town is Fillmore, which is on the north side of the Santa Clara about 3 miles (5 km) from Bardsdale. Santa Paula is about 7 miles (11 km) west, the most direct route being South Mountain Road. Moorpark is about 6 miles (10 km) south over the serpentine mountain road known as Grimes Canyon. The Bardsdale area has long been a center of citrus ranching, having a large number of verdant orange orchards with home sites interspersed among them. The citrus of Sunkist growers in Bardsdale is sold throughout the country and around the world. Oranges - mostly Valencias - are the main crop, other crops include lemons, avocados, and row cropped vegetables. Bardsdale gently slopes from South Mountain to the river and has a sweeping, panoramic view of the Santa Clara River Valley, dominated by the peaks of the Sespe and San Cayetano Mountains. The community is home to the Bardsdale United Methodist Church, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bardsdale Cemetery serves the community as well as Fillmore, which has no other cemetery. The Elkins Ranch Golf Course is on the east edge of Bardsdale. The area is serviced by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Ventura County Fire Department.

The South Mountain Oil Field is a large and productive oil field in Ventura County, California, in the United States, in and adjacent to the city of Santa Paula. Discovered in 1916, and having a cumulative production of over 158 million barrels (25,100,000 m3) of oil, it is the 37th largest oil field in California and the second largest in Ventura County (after the Ventura field). As of the beginning of 2009, it retains 316 active wells, and has an estimated 1.4 million barrels (220,000 m3) of oil remaining recoverable with current technology. Vintage Production, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, was the largest operator as of 2009.

KOCP (104.7 FM, "Old School 104.7") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Oxnard, California and broadcasts to the Oxnard–Ventura, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara areas. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and airs a rhythmic oldies music format. KOCP is partially simulcast on sister station KQIE in Redlands, California, also at 104.7 FM.

KLJR-FM (96.7 MHz "La Mejor") is a radio station that is licensed to Santa Paula, California and broadcasts to the Oxnard–Ventura radio market. The station is owned by Radio Lazer and airs a classic regional Mexican music format.

The Santa Paula Hardware Company Building, located in Santa Paula, California, and more commonly referred to as the Union Oil Company Building, is significant for its historical importance as the birthplace of the Union Oil Company on October 17, 1890. Originally, the Santa Paula Hardware and Post Office were downstairs, and the Union Oil Company offices were upstairs. The building continued to serve as a field division office after the main headquarters moved to Los Angeles in 1900. The Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board designated the building County Landmark #36 in December 1977. The building is a California Historical Landmark (#996) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS-86002619).

The Santa Paula Depot is a former railway station in Santa Paula, California. As a feature of the Fillmore and Western Railway, the station has been seen in various commercials, television shows, and feature films.

The Glen Tavern Inn is a hotel located in Santa Paula, Ventura County, California. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is an official City of Santa Paula and Ventura County Landmark. It is in the Santa Clara River Valley, approximately 12 miles (19 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean.