Santa Paula Landmarks
Each of the properties below is a listed City of Santa Paula Historic Landmark. Only listed City Landmarks are protected by Santa Paula Ordinance 816. Some of these properties are also either County Landmarks and/or National Register Landmarks. National Register Landmarks are automatically California State Landmarks and protected under CEQA. City and County Landmarks are also protected under CEQA. County Landmarks are also protected under the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Ordinance 4225.
Santa Paula Union High School - SPCL No. 1
SPCL NO. 1 - santa paula union high school
404 North Sixth Street (HPC File) - 1936 (Current Campus)
Santa Paula High School was designed by Pasadena architect Frederick Kennedy, Jr. ca 1925 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Classrooms are built around interior courts. The buildings are terraced on the hillside and heavy landscaping adds to the charm. A tower with a zig zag moderne tile design dominates the composition. A Cornelius and Jesse Arms Botke mural of Ventura County was painted in the foyer of the auditorium. (J. Triem)
Notes:
The first Santa Paula Union High School was constructed ca 1915 and served the district until 1940. It was torn down after a $72,000 bond was approved. (M.A.O. Henderson)
Moreton Bay Fig Tree - SPCL No. 2
SPCL NO. 2 - MORETON BAY FIG TREE
Tenth & Santa Barbara Streets SW (HPC File) - Planted July 4, 1879
Monumental tree planted by the Reverend Eden H. Orne for his daughter, Cecilia, on her birthday. 1962 Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce Tree and Land Purchase. Concerned Santa Paula residents formed a legal trust to save this tree and named it The Citizens Memorial Park Trust. Dr. Gilbert Jackson, Edwin Beach, Charles Lockwood, and Gus Quick trustees of The Memorial Park Trust Association. The Rev. Orne was an early-day Santa Paula preacher who lived across the street from our Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. His tree is still healthy, with an indefinite lifespan.
First Union Oil Company Building - SPCL No.3
AKA - Santa Paula Hardware Company Block
SPCL NO. 3 - FIRST UNION OIL COMPANY BUILDING
AKA - California Oil Museum (1950), Santa Paula Union Oil Museum (1993)
1003 East Main Street (CDP 88-38) - 1890
The structure was built by Hardison & Stewart Oil Company. The incorporation papers for Union Oil Company were signed upstairs by founders Wallace Hardison, Lyman Stewart, and Thomas Bard. The building housed the offices of Union Oil Company upstairs and the Santa Paula Hardware Company and Post Office were downstairs. Over the years, various uses downstairs included paints, crockery, and furniture. At one time, a tin shop and warehouse were in rear. Building has been well maintained and unaltered over the years; it now houses the California Oil Museum. (J. Triem & M.A.O. Henderson)
Ebell Club - SPCL No. 4
AKA - Santa Paula Women’s Club
SPCL NO. 4 - EBELL CLUB
AKA - Santa Paula Women’s Club, Santa Paula Theater Center
125 South Seventh Street (CDP 86-80) - 1917
This building was designed by the well known Los Angeles firm of Hunt and Burns in 1917. The bulding with its park setting is an outstanding example of the Shingle style with Craftsman influences. Mrs. C.H. McKevett donated the land and erected the building in memory of her husband C.H. McKevett. The Ebell Club was formed as a study club on November 10, 1913. Before the club was erected, the structure on that property was used as a movie company and was one of the first movie companies in California. (J. Triem)
Glen Tavern Hotel - SPCL No. 5
SPCL NO. 5 - GLEN TAVERN HOTEL (INN)
134 North Mill Street (CDP 87-13) - 1910
Built to accommodate the increasing number of businessmen, tourists, and the ailing who came seeking the curative waters of Sulphur Mountain Hot Springs. Trains running between San Francisco and Los Angeles stopped four times daily. Site selected because of its close proximity to the Depot and Main Street. Designed with 32 rooms, all outside and with hot and cold running water, electricity and steam heat; 22 rooms had adjoining bathrooms. Spacious dining room, modern kitchen, cold storage and chef's quarters; servants quarters were separate in a house moved to the back (since destroyed). (C. Swift, M.A.O. Henderson)
Southern Pacific Railroad Depot - SPCL No. 6
SPCL NO. 6 - THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD DEPOT
AKA - The Depot
963 East Santa Barbara Street (CDP 87-13) - 1887
One of the few depots in Ventura County that remains unaltered and in its original site. The depot forms part of a historic district that includes the Main Street commercial area; the Glen Tavern, the Mill, the California Walnut Growers Warehouse, and the First Christian Church. All of these structures are within a six block radius and are important visual reminders of Santa Paula's early growth and development. (C. Swift, J. Triem)
McKevett School - SPCL No. 7
SPCL NO. 7 - MCKEVETT SCHOOL
AKA - North Grammar School
955 East Pleasant Street (CDP 87-24) - 1910
McKevett School, built in 1911 by local contractor Wm. Hudson, was designed by the firm of Withey and Davis. Originally called North Grammar School, it won a national award as one of the best planned schools in the country. Built around a courtyard, this U-shaped Mission Revival style building was landscaped with native California plants and trees. The building is a single story stucco with red tile roof and has a Mission parapet and arched entrance. (J. Triem)
Odd Fellows’ Town Clock - SPCL No. 8
spcl no. 8 - odd fellows’ town clock
68 East Main Street (CDP No. 87-25) - 1905 (Installed)
The clock tower on the IOOF Building is a prominent Santa Paula landmark. The clock was installed in 1905 and was electrified in 1952. The building was constructed soon after the disastrous Petrolia Fire of December, 1903, which destroyed the first wood frame structure where the IOOF met. Billy Stein raised the funds for the four-faced clock and helped maintain it for 45 years. Stein had worked for the Seth Thomas Clock Co. in Thomasville, Conn., from which the clock came. (J. Triem)
First Christian Church - SPCL No. 9
spcl no. 9 - first christian church
829 Railroad Avenue (CDP No. 87-25) - 1900
The church is important as an early visual landmark in the City that has remained unaltered since the turn of the century. It is at the head of Ninth Street as you face north on Main Street and becomes a part of a district including the Main Street commercial area, the Depot, and the Mill. It is also a good example of a modest Carpenter Gothic church with its main feature being the open belfry. (Shilton/Blanchard, C. Swift, J. Triem)
Sheldon House - SPCL No. 10
spcl no. 10 - the sheldon house
701 East Santa Paula Street (CDP No. 87-59) - 1900
Built for Mr. Charles L. Sheldon, a Secretary-Manager of the Santa Paula Citrus Association (1926) and his wife Nellie ca 1900, this Neo-Classic Row House maintains its original integrity. The L-shaped 1 1/2 story house with narrow clapboard siding rests on a stone foundation. The medium pitched hip roof of patterned composition shingles has a flared hipped dormer window and ornamental brackets under eaves. On the west side of the house is a gabled slanted bay window and there is an original brick chimney. A slanted bay on west side of facade contains diamond patterned windows on upper portion. The east facade has an open porch with Doric columns. Of special interest are the out buildings - twin water tanks on tile brick walk-in base and summer kitchen. (J. Triem)
Rice House - SPCL No. 11
spcl no. 11 - the rice house
928-930 Yale Street (CDP No. 87-133) - 1880’s
The house was built for the James C. Rice family in the late 1880's. Mr. Rice owned Rice & Peck Men's furnishings on Main Street. The house was moved from the corner of Main and 7th Streets where it had served as a parsonage for St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The house is one of the more elaborate houses from the early period with few alterations. (J. Triem, D. Dundore)
Familia Diaz Cafe Site - SPCL No. 12
spcl no. 12 - familia diaz cafe (site)
245 South 10th Street (CDP No. 90-52) - 1919, 1928
The original cantina, Las Quince Leteras, opened in 1936 and shared a wall with the owner’s family home. When the sale of the restaurant was announced, it was believed to be the oldest continuously operated family business in Ventura County.
SP Citrus Fruit Assoc. Bldg. - SPCL No. 13
spcl no. 13 - santa paula citrus fruit assoc. bldg.
500 E. Santa Barbara Street (CDP No. 91-48)
This two-story stucco office building has red tile medium pitched hipped roof with exposed rafters under the eaves. The building has a classical feeling with the formal entrance using large Doric columns supporting a portico which contains the name of the company. The strictly symmetrical facade is characteristic of the Neo Colonial Revival of the 1920's. This was the office of the Santa Paula Citrus Fruit Association which at one time had the largest packing house in the world. The association began about the turn-of-the-century and handled lemons. (J. Triem)
Olive Mann Isbell School - SPCL No. 14
spcl no. 14 - (olive mann) isbell school
221 S. 4th Street (CDP No. 91-59) - 1926
This facility (1926) replaced South Grammar School, which was converted into city hall. Built to accommodate the students south of Main Street from kindergarten through eighth grade, the older children experienced a departmentalized program in preparation for high school. The construction of the two new schools (Canyon & Isbell) required bonds of nearly $50,000, and Roy Wilson Sr. designed both. Now only a middle school, the campus remains at 221 South Fourth Street. (M.A.O. Henderson)
Barbara Webster School - SPCL No. 15
spcl no. 15 - barbara webster school
1150 Saticoy Street (CDP No. 91-60) - 1925
Canyon Shool, 1925. Due to the dramatic increase of agricultural workers from Mexico, attention was given to non-English speaking students with this school built in Spanish Town. At this time, students were segregated by fluency in English. For their parents, special classes in Spanish were offered in health, homemaking, and citizenship. Becoming Barbara Webster School in honor of the long-time principal, the facility femains at 1150 Saticoy Street. (M.A.O. Henderson)
Peoples Lumber Co. - SPCL No. 16
spcl no. 16 - peoples lumber co.
216 N. 8th Street (CDP No. 96-13) - 1890 (approx.)
People's Lumber Company office built ca 1924 on original site of first office built ca 1892. Brick commercial building with cement trim on cornice with leaf relief design radiating arched brick windows on sides of long rectangular building. The site is significant because it is the People's Lumber Yard which once covered a very large area and was instrumental in the growth of the city. Designed by local architect, Roy C. Wilson, in 1924. (J. Triem)
County Fire Station - SPCL No. 17
spcl no. 17 - county fire station
735 E. Santa Barbara Street (CDP No. 95-16)
Ventura County's first fire station was built adjoining the County Agricultural Commissioner's office at the corner of Santa Barbara and Eighth Streets. Within a few years, other county-operated stations appeared throughout the county.