Finding aid for the Patterson Ranch papers, circa 1880-1987 MVC060
Finding aid prepared by Krystell Jimenez, 2020.
This finding aid was made possible in part through funding from the County of Ventura and the Heritage Fund at the Ventura
County Community Foundation
Museum of Ventura County
November 2020
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Museum of Ventura County
Title: Patterson Ranch papers
Identifier/Call Number: MVC060
Physical Description:
2.64 Cubic Feet
(2 boxes, 1 ledger)
Date (inclusive): circa 1880-1987
Date (bulk): 1900-1941
Abstract: The Patterson Ranch Company was a livestock, dairy, and agricultural farm originally located on the Oxnard plains. The ranch
was owned by New York farmer John D. Patterson, who hired managers to run the farm for him. Peter Hartveld, a Dutch immigrant,
was the ranch foreman and responsible for much of the day-to-day running of the ranch. Hartveld and his family lived in the
main ranch house between 1917 and 1987. The collection covers the day-to-day management of the Patterson Ranch Company and
the ranch's business dealings with local businesses and persons. Materials include correspondence, dissolution papers, newspaper
clippings, time books, harvest record cards, inventories, poll tax and wage garnishment sheets, invoices and receipts, maps,
titles and deeds, photographs, monographs and catalogs, and ledgers.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Physical Location: Stored off-site and advance notice required for timely retrieval. Please contact the Research Library reference desk prior
to your visit: library@venturamuseum.org
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Open for research. Collection is minimally processed. All requests to access materials must be
made in advance by contacting the Research Library staff via email: library@venturamuseum.org
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, have
not been determined. Contact the Research Library for further information: library@venturamuseum.org
[Identification of item], Patterson Ranch papers, (MVC060), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library, Ventura, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donna Lee Taylor; gift; 2014.
Processed by Krystell Jimenez, 2020.
The Patterson Ranch Company was a livestock, dairy, and agricultural farm originally located on the Oxnard plains, near Wooley
and Patterson Roads. Peter Hartveld, an immigrant from Holland, was the ranch foreman and responsible for much of the day-to-day
running of the ranch. The 5,000-acre ranch was named for New York farmer John D. Patterson who arrived in California in 1854,
and in 1866 he purchased land from Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara, or La Colonia. Patterson never lived on the ranch, but hired
managers to run the farm.
Horses and cattle were raised on the property, but much of the acreage was devoted to grains. Following Patterson's death
circa 1902, his heirs sold their interests to the Patterson Ranch Company, the president of which was Robert Oxnard. Functioning
basically as a subsidiary of the American Beet Sugar Company, which was owned and operated by the Oxnard family, the new manager
installed a drainage system to improve the arability of the soil so it was suitable for growing sugar beets and a variety
of other crops, including lima beans, pumpkins, potatoes and citrus. In 1913, 1800 acres of the northern portion were sold
in 40-acre tracts to local citizens.
The main ranch house was built around 1905 for John Roupe, the manager of the company at the time. Peter Hartveld moved to
Oxnard in 1904 and was ranch foreman until 1914. He was born on October 6, 1883 in Nieuwe-Tonge, Holland. He moved his wife,
Anna, and family to Oxnard around 1910. The Hartvelds settled on the Patterson Ranch and within a few years Mr. Harveld became
the ranch manager, a position he held for many years. After the ranch was subdivided, Hartveld bought the ranch house and
153 acres surrounding it. He and his family lived in the house until 1987.
This collection covers the day-to-day management of the Patterson Ranch Company and any transactions the ranch had with other
persons and/or corporations. Materials include correspondence to and from the Hartveld brothers, the dissolution papers for
the Patterson Ranch Company, newspaper clippings, cancelled checks, time books and timesheet forms, harvest record cards,
inventories, tax rate booklets, poll tax and wage garnishment sheets, invoices and receipts, maps, titles and deeds, photographs
of life on the ranch, monographs and catalogs, and ledgers.
This collection has been minimally processed and has box-level description.
The following items have been separated from the archival collection and are housed with MVC's objects collection: turnip
hook, veterinary needle kit and syringe, and cabbage slicer.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Dairy farming -- California -- Oxnard
Ranches -- California -- Oxnard
Patterson Ranch Company -- Records and correspondence
Box 1
Papers, photographs, and maps circa 1880-1987
This box contains: correspondence to both of the Hartveld brothers on various issues, including Oxnard drainage district number
1, land leases, and the Lima Bean Selling Agency; papers for the dissolution of the Patterson Ranch Company; newspaper clippings
on the Oxnard drainage district; cancelled checks; correspondence with the Encino Ranch; used and unused time books; one pad
of office time check forms; Harvest record cards; inventories; Ventura County Tax Rate booklets for 1920-1921, 1921 -1922,
and 1922-1923; sheets on poll taxes and wage garnishment for Patterson Ranch employees, May 1900; various invoices and receipts;
maps for subdivision of Patterson Ranch and the Mandalay Steam Station; Ventura Abstract Company titles, 1928; a copy of the
deed for Patterson Ranch, 1981; photographs, including some Dingman photographs, of life on Patterson Ranch; and several monographs
and catalogs on corrugated culverts, scales, and sewer pipes; transferring papers for embroidery patterns; and a copy of
The History of the California Fruit Growers Exchange (1925).
Box 2
Ledgers, photographs, and maps 1899-1921
This box contains: Four undated panoramic photographs of Patterson Ranch scenes; a ledger recording business transactions,
1899-1921; Waterhouse and Lester catalog number 8; maps of the Patterson Ranch Home Camp, circa 1914; and four keys on a key
chain engraved with "The Oxnard 17 Baggage."
Ledger 1
Patterson Ranch Company Dairy Record 1910-1916