In 1850, there were as many at 10,000 grizzly bears in California, many of them in the mountains of what would become Ventura County. In the next 75 years, the California grizzly would disappear from the state.

One evening in 1937, grocer Sylvan Goldman noticed a problem. Shoppers, often women with children, struggled to carry heavy baskets under their arms. Once the baskets got too full, they stopped buying. Looking around his office, Goldman spotted a folding chair and had an idea.

In the summer of 1926, Ventura didn’t just celebrate the nation’s 150th anniversary—it staged a three-day extravaganza so spectacular it has yet to be matched.

It was 3 a.m. on July 5, 1890. On Ventura’s dark Main Street, a team of laborers moved quietly but quickly along the dirt roadway, guided only by the flickering glow of handheld lanterns.

For thousands of years, they’ve shared the land, but over the past 175 years, as ranches, towns, and cities spread, the shrinking wild left little room for coexistence, often with deadly results for the lions.

The story of Juan Marion, a burglar who robbed dozens of homes, stores and railroad cars in the 1920s while evading the law in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

A brave shopkeeper named Walter Chaffee guarded the American flag outside his store, even when others tried to steal it away. During the Civil War, it was hard to be a Union supporter in California, but Walter and his friends secretly met to stand up for freedom and fairness for everyone.

By Andy Ludlum — Even after 76 years, John Doughty’s memories as an 8-year-old in 1910 were as clear as if it were yesterday. The Simi Valley man said his mother, Annie, began crying and yelling when she first spotted Halley’s Comet. She fell to her knees and waved her arms up and down in prayer. She was certain the comet was a sign from God, “a cyclone that would burn a hole through the Earth.”

By Andy Ludlum — April 8, 1917, two days after the United States had declared war on Germany, a group of 31 men, posed in front of the Ventura Mill & Lumber Company.

By Andy Ludlum — Mary Belle Spencer of Chicago became the first woman to represent a criminal defendant in Ventura County history.

by Library Volunteer Andy Ludlum Marjery Misner was described in 1924 by The Los Angeles Times as a “pretty, young teacher.”  Near the…

by Library Volunteer Andy Ludlum When a baby was teething and wouldn’t stop crying, there’s a good chance that Ventura County parents in…