Santa Clara River Valley

The Sycamore Tree is a historic tree used for many years as a special meeting place. The tree is located just off California State Route 126 in the middle of Hall Road, 4 Miles East of Santa Paula, California in Ventura County. Address is in the 3800 block of Sycamore Road, Fillmore, California, just north of the Santa Clara River. The site became California Historical Landmark number 756 on February 22, 1960. The tree has been used in the past as a polling place, Padres resting place on the El Camino Real, outdoor chapel and post office. In December 1846 General John C. Frémont passed the tree on his trip to sign a treaty with General Andrés Pico to secure California's annexation to the United States, called the Treaty of Cahuenga. The Treaty was signed on January 13, 1847, at Campo de Cahuenga in what is now Universal City, California.The missing California Historical Landmark reads: In 1846 General John C. Frémont passed this sycamore tree on his way to sign a treaty with General Andrés Pico to secure California for annexation to the United States. The tree has served as a resting place, a polling place, a temporary post office, and an outdoor chapel. While the marker missing, on Route 126 is a sign 500 feet before the tree.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Maria Fire was a wildfire that burned the south of the community of Santa Paula in the area of Somis, California on the top of South Mountain in Ventura County. The fire ignited in the evening hours of Thursday, October 31, 2019 and consumed well over 4,000 acres (16 km2) within its first several hours of burning. Despite the aggressive initial attack by first responders, the fire exploded rapidly due to a strong Santa Ana wind event that was occurring in the area during its ignition.

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.

Fillmore is a small city in Ventura County, California, United States, in the Santa Clara River Valley. In an agricultural area with rich, fertile soil, Fillmore has a historic downtown that was established when the Southern Pacific built the railroad through the valley in 1887. The rail line also provided a name for the town: J. A. Fillmore was a general superintendent for the company's Pacific system. The population was 16,419 at the 2020 census, up 9.4% from 15,002 during the 2010 census.

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.

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).