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BHistory
History · Ojai

Ojai dates to 1874, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #95 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Ojai was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listings are the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel and the Isis Theater. Its Register listings are the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel and the Isis Theater. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1930.

1874founded
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ojai’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ojai began

When was Ojai founded?

1874

Ojai dates its founding to 1874 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 1,468 in 19302020 census: 7,637152 years

How historic is Ojai?

B

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ojai’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ojai is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #95 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ojai’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19408.2% of homes (±2.9) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 2.6 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 89%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ojai’s 2.6 sits above most of its state (83% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1874.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Ojai’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19035 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1995. Watch Ojai change.A town in postcards15 old photos, postcards and papers, 1900–1915.Famous sons and daughtersDave England, Larry Linville and 10 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the map

Ojai on the map, 1903 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ojai. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ojai on the 1903 USGS mapOjai on the 1952 USGS mapOjai on the 1967 USGS mapOjai on the 1988 USGS mapOjai on the 1995 USGS map1903Santa Paula sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ojai.

By decade

Ojai, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s10 items
PSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ventura county cal1900PSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ventura county cal05669-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, California-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190505669-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Californ…Postcard05670-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Cal.-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190505670-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Cal.-Brü…Postcard05671-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, California-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190505671-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Californ…Postcard05672-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, California-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190505672-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Californ…Postcard05673-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, California-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190505673-Hot Springs-1905-Matilija Hot Springs, Californ…Postcard06702-Ojai Valley-1905-Fernery Pierpont Cottages-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190506702-Ojai Valley-1905-Fernery Pierpont Cottages-Brüc…Postcard06703-Ojai Valley-1905-Pierpont Cottages, Ojai Valley Cal.-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190506703-Ojai Valley-1905-Pierpont Cottages, Ojai Valley…Postcard06704-Ojai Valley-1905-Main Building, Pierpont Cottages-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190506704-Ojai Valley-1905-Main Building, Pierpont Cottag…PostcardMatilija Hot Springs, California 19051905Matilija Hot Springs, California 1905Postcard
1910s5 items
Creek Scene, Matilija Hot Springs, 19111911Creek Scene, Matilija Hot Springs, 1911PostcardG.T. Thomsen house1915G.T. Thomsen houseG.T. Thomsen house1915G.T. Thomsen houseG.T. Thomsen house1915G.T. Thomsen houseHouse ("residence") for Mr. and Mrs. G.T. Thomsen1915House ("residence") for Mr. and Mrs. G.T. Thomsen
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Calliote Canyon2021Calliote CanyonOjai, Calif (March 18, 2017) - Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office biologist Collette Thogerson tests a visitor's conserva…2013Ojai, Calif (March 18, 2017) - Ventura Fish and Wildl…World's Fair Cake by Bill Barker, 1939 - Linen Postcard2010World's Fair Cake by Bill Barker, 1939 - Linen Postca…Postcard
Famous people

12 famous people were born in Ojai

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Dave EnglandAmerican stunt performer · b. 1969
Larry LinvilleAmerican actor · b. 1939
James PaxtonAmerican actor · b. 1994
A
Anthony J. HilderAmerican filmmaker, host and broadcaster · b. 1934
Beth AllenAmerican golfer · b. 1981
Sage EricksonAmerican surfer · b. 1990
The story

How Ojai came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ojai.

Read it all →

Ojai sits on what used to be a territory of the Chumash, a Native American people who inhabited the central and southern coastal regions of California, but what is now Morro Bay in the north to Malibu in the south and the Channel Islands. Before the arrival of European settlers, at least 10,000 Chumash people lived in over 150 independent villages, speaking variations of the same language. Starting in 1769, Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived to colonize the California coast, Christianize the native population, found military presidios and relocate Chumash people from their villages into Spanish missions.

ChaptersChumashRancho OjaiNordhoffRailroadLibbeyHousing

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ojai, 1874 to 1994

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874
    FoundingOjai is established
  3. 1874Post officeThe Nordhoff post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archivePSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ventura county cal
  6. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1911In the archiveCreek Scene, Matilija Hot Springs, 1911
  8. 1917Post officeThe Nordhoff post office closes
  9. 1917Post officeThe Ojai post office opens
  10. 1934Born hereAnthony J. Hilder is born here
  11. 1939Born hereLarry Linville is born here
  12. 1969Born hereDave England is born here
  13. 1994Born hereJames Paxton is born here
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

PSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ventura county cal
Retake this viewPSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ventura county cal, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ojai’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Ojai

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel
St. Thomas Aquinas ChapelIsis Theater
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mission Revival1
St. Thomas Aquinas ChapelLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
All 2 listings
Isis TheaterBuilding · listed 2026

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Ojai, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019401960198020002020Peak: 7,862

Between 1,468 and 7,862 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ojai’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Ojai’s post office has been open since 1917. Another post office, Nordhoff, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nordhoff
1874–1917
Ojai
1917–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArboladaMatilija
1cemetery inside Ojai
Nordhoff

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Ojai’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPSM V58 D243 Tar pool in upper ojai ven…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Meiners Oaks1 historic placeBMira MonteIts storyD

Questions about Ojai’s history

What year was Ojai founded?

In 1874, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ojai’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1930 counted 1,468 people here.

How does Ojai rank for history?

Ojai is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #95 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Ojai?

Two places: the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel (listed 1995) and the Isis Theater (2026).

How old are the homes in Ojai?

8% of Ojai’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.