Camarillo, CA news and local guide

After Mexican independence and the liberalized land grant law of 1824, Jose Pedro Ruiz received Rancho Calleguas in 1837 in the area now Camarillo. It was later sold to Juan Camarillo, who had come in 1834 with the Hijar-Padres colony, and his sons Adolfo and Juan developed a ranch in Pleasant Valley on the Oxnard Plain. Around 1910 the original townsite was laid out around St. Mary Magdalen Church, built as the Camarillo family chapel. In 1927 Don Juan Camarillo donated 100 acres for St. John's Seminary, which opened in 1939. The town grew slowly through World War II; in the late 1940s lots on Ventura Boulevard sold for $450 with few buyers, as the narrow, winding road up the Conejo Grade made travel to Los Angeles difficult. Orange, lemon and walnut groves surrounded the town, the state mental hospital to the south was the largest employer, and Oxnard Army Air Field, the Naval Air Facility at Point Mugu and the Seabee base at Port Hueneme brought many military personnel to the area. Sources Wikipedia: Camarillo, California