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B−History
History · Oxnard

Oxnard’s post office opened in 1898, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #162 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Oxnard was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 143 buildings between them. Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1910.

1898first post office
4on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
24old photos & papers
58famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oxnard’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Oxnard began

When was Oxnard founded?

1898

The Oxnard post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,555 in 19102020 census: 202,063128 years

How historic is Oxnard?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Oxnard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Oxnard’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oxnard is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #162 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 Oxnard’s overall grade.
Founding era1898, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.2% of homes (±0.4) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register4 listings, 147 historic buildings, 7.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 81%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Oxnard ranks #248 on History.

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 Oxnard’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (90% of California towns have fewer) while its 147 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Oxnard’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Oxnard’s past

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

A historic districtThe Oxnard, Henry T., Historic District takes in 139 historic buildings.A town in old photos24 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1940.Famous sons and daughtersJeffrey Combs, Tony Ferguson and 56 more were born here.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1967. Watch Oxnard change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 147 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
147
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Oxnard Public Library
Oxnard Public Library, built 1980Oxnard, Henry T., Historic DistrictGottfried Maulhardt FarmScarlett Ranch
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek1
Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Colonial Revival1
Oxnard Public LibraryGreek · Built 1980
Oxnard, Henry T., Historic DistrictMission/Spanish Colonial Revival
All 4 listings
Gottfried Maulhardt FarmBuilding · listed 2023Scarlett RanchDistrict · listed 2024

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

By decade

Oxnard, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s23 items
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - California (CA) - Ventura County - Oxnard - ED 56-39 to 6218801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - California (C…08300-Oxnard, Cal.-1906-Bect Hauling Scene-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190608300-Oxnard, Cal.-1906-Bect Hauling Scene-Brück & So…08302-Oxnard, Cal.-1906-Bean Threshing-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag190608302-Oxnard, Cal.-1906-Bean Threshing-Brück & Sohn K…Oxnard, Cal., 19091909Oxnard, Cal., 1909Lime kilns1910Lime kilnsOxnard, [California], factory, east side, showing lime kilns1910Oxnard, [California], factory, east side, showing lim…Food Adm. sugar, pulp drying plant1910Food Adm. sugar, pulp drying plantFood Adm. sugar, unloading beets from cars1910Food Adm. sugar, unloading beets from carsFood Adm. sugar, unloading beets from wagons1910Food Adm. sugar, unloading beets from wagonsFood Adm. sugar, receiving beets in factory shed1910Food Adm. sugar, receiving beets in factory shedFilter presses1910Filter pressesGeneral interior view Oxnard, [California], factory showing diffusion battery filter presses, carbonation tanks, slicin…1910General interior view Oxnard, [California], factory s…S.E. corner of Crockett, [California], Refinery1910S.E. corner of Crockett, [California], RefineryBeet sheds, Oxnard, (California), factory1912Beet sheds, Oxnard, (California), factoryOxnard, [California], factory1912Oxnard, [California], factoryOxnard, [California], factory, South Side1912Oxnard, [California], factory, South SideBoiler house1912Boiler houseBeet sheds1912Beet shedsPlowing with Caterpillar1912Plowing with CaterpillarStandard Evaporators1912Standard EvaporatorsHauling beets into yard1912Hauling beets into yardPulp drying plant, first unit Oxnard, [California], factory1912Pulp drying plant, first unit Oxnard, [California], f…Fuel Oil Storage tanks capacity of each 30000 bbls1912Fuel Oil Storage tanks capacity of each 30000 bbls
1940s1 item
California [San Luis Obispo County (part) - Yuba County]1940California [San Luis Obispo County (part) - Yuba Coun…
1950s–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
Famous people

58 famous people were born in Oxnard

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

See all →
J
Jeffrey CombsAmerican actor (b. 1954) · b. 1954
Tony FergusonAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1984
MadlibAmerican DJ and music producer · b. 1973
Autumn DuraldAmerican cinematographer · b. 1979
William P. ClarkAmerican judge, Reagan advisor · b. 1931
Robbie JonesAmerican actor · b. 1977
The story

How Oxnard came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oxnard.

Read it all →

Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was inhabited by Chumash Native Americans. The first European to encounter the area was explorer João Rodrigues Cabrilho, who claimed it for Spain in 1542. During the mission period, Mission San Buenaventura, established in 1782, used the area for raising cattle.

Ranching began to take hold among Californio settlers, who lost their regional influence when California became a US state in 1850. At about the same time, the area was settled by American farmers, who cultivated barley and lima beans.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oxnard, 1880 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - California (CA) - Ventura County - Oxnard - ED 56…
  3. 1898Post officeThe Oxnard post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1906In the archive08300-Oxnard, Cal.-1906-Bect Hauling Scene-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag
  7. 1910In the archiveLime kilns
  8. 1940In the archiveCalifornia [San Luis Obispo County (part) - Yuba County]
  9. 1954Born hereJeffrey Combs is born here
  10. 1973Born hereMadlib is born here
  11. 1979Born hereAutumn Durald is born here
  12. 1980BuiltOxnard Public Library is built
  13. 1984Born hereTony Ferguson is born here
On the map

Oxnard on the map, 1904 to 1967

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

Oxnard on the 1904 USGS mapOxnard on the 1949 USGS mapOxnard on the 1951 USGS mapOxnard on the 1967 USGS map1904Hueneme 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 Oxnard.

Every building

Oxnard, building by building, 1900–1906

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Oxnard fire insurance map, 1900, sheet 11900Sheet 1 of 7
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - California (CA) - Ventura County - Oxnard - ED 56-39 to 62
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - California (CA) - Ventura County - Oxnard - ED 56-39 to 62, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Oxnard, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,000180,000200,000220,000192019401960198020002020202,063

Grew from 2,555 people in 1910 to 202,063 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Oxnard’s post office has been open since 1898.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Arts Trailer CourtOwl Mobile ManorOxnard ShoresPleasant Valley Mobile Home ParkRoyal Palms Mobile Home ParkThe Colony Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Calvary TabernaclechurchColonia SchoolschoolLying In HospitalhospitalNaval Auxiliary Air Station Ventura CountymilitarySaint Josephs InstituteschoolSilver K Golf Courselocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oxnard
Hueneme MasonicJapaneseSanta Clara

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

Help out

Finish Oxnard’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: 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.

Channel Islands BeachIts storyC−El RioIts storyC−Port Hueneme2 historic placesC+San Buenaventura (Ventura)10 historic placesB+

Questions about Oxnard’s history

What year was Oxnard founded?

The Oxnard post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Oxnard rank for history?

Oxnard is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #162 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 Oxnard?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Oxnard Public Library (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Oxnard, Henry T., Historic District and the Scarlett Ranch, with 143 contributing buildings. 147 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Oxnard?

2% of Oxnard’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (19), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.