Collection Guide
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Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, circa 1870-1930.
MVC017
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Contributing Institution:
Museum of Ventura County
Title: Rancho Las Posas and Simi records
Identifier/Call Number: MVC017
Physical Description:
2.57 Cubic Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1870-1930
Abstract: Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi were both Mexican land grants that were owned by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa
Barbara. They cover large portions of present-day Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, the Oxnard Plains, and western Los Angeles
County. Much of the land in this area was eventually purchased by Pennsylvania-based railroad executive and businessman Thomas
A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later come to own much land in Ventura
County. Bard oversaw Scott's business affairs in the West, which included selling and leasing portions of these large ranch
properties. This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the
late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence.
One plat map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.
Physical Location: Stored at the MVC Research Library. All requests to access special collections can be made in advance by emailing the Research
Library reference desk.
Language of Material:
English
.
COLLECTION STORED ON-SITE: Open for research. Advance requests can be made to Research Library staff via email.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the museum does not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, (Collection MVC017), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library,
Ventura, California."
Provenance/Source of acquisition
Gift of the Bard family.
Processed by Library Staff, 2011. Additional processing by Isabel Kline and Krystell Jimenez, 2022.
Rancho Las Posas was a Mexican land grant in what is now Camarillo, Moorpark, portions of Simi Valley, and portions of the
Oxnard Plain in Ventura County, California. It was awarded by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Carrillo in 1834. Rancho
Simi (also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí) was another Spanish land grant that covered much
of Simi Valley and land in what is now western Los Angeles County. The land grant was held by the Pico family. Much of this
land would eventually be purchased by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa Barbara.
Rancho Simi, as well as several other properties in the region, were purchased by Pennsylvania-based land speculator, railroad
executive, and businessman Thomas A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later
come to own much land in Ventura County. In the 1880s Bard would form the Simi Land and Water Company to sell and lease portions
of the large ranch. The Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company was not strictly a Bard-owned enterprise. However, he was
greatly involved in much of the development of the area covered in this collection. The Las Posas and Simi Valley area continued
to be dominated by agriculture and ranching, including sheep, cattle, wheat, and barley. In the years leading up to the 1960s
Simi Valley began to diversify its agriculture to include citrus, walnuts, and apricots until the advent of suburban development
in the 1960s.
This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the late 1800s
to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence. One plat
map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.
This collection has no series and has been described at the folder level.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Simi Valley (Calif.)
Land titles
Rancho Las Posas
Rancho Simi
Simi Land and Water Company -- Records and correspondence
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company -- Records and correspondence