Editing Camarillo, California (section)

==History==
At the time of European contact in the 18th century, Camarillo had been inhabited by the [[Chumash Indians]] for thousands of years.<ref name="cityofcamarillo1">{{cite report |url=https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/Comm%20Dev/Projects/GPA%202016-1%20Shea/DEIR%20June%202017/Apx%206.5%20Cultural%20Resource%20Documentation.pdf |title=Cultural Resources Documentation {{!}} Appendix 6.5 {{!}} St. John's Specific Plan |page=3 |publisher=City of Camarillo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412182602/https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/Comm%20Dev/Projects/GPA%202016-1%20Shea/DEIR%20June%202017/Apx%206.5%20Cultural%20Resource%20Documentation.pdf |date=2017 |archive-date=2019-04-12}}</ref>

Present day Camarillo and the larger [[Oxnard Plain]] were portions of a paramount Chumash capital at the village of Muwu (today's [[Point Mugu, California|Point Mugu]]). Simo'mo (CA-VEN-24), which translates to "the saltbush patch", was a Chumash village located upstream from [[Mugu Lagoon]] near the city of Camarillo.<ref>Arnold, Jeanne E. (2004). ''Foundations of Chumash Complexity''. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. Page 40. {{ISBN|9781931745185}}.</ref><ref name="cityofcamarillo1"/> Caves with ancient pictographs are located in the area around [[Conejo Grade]] including a site used for religious ceremonies dating back to 500 A.D., where two Chumash villages were located: Lalimanux (Lalimanuc or Lalimanuh) and Kayɨwɨš or Kayiwish (Kawyis) (CA-VEN-243).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-03-me-14855-story.html |title=Destruction of Artifacts Angers Indian Activists : Accidental Clearing in Camarillo Halts Work on 1,000-Unit Housing Tract |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 3, 1986 |last1=Omestad |first1=Thomas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/chis/chumash.pdf |title=Cultural Affiliation and Lineal Descent of the Chumash Peoples |access-date=December 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921095214/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/chis/chumash.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8833s5k5#page-3 |title=The Names and Locations of Historic Chumash Villages |journal=The Journal of California Anthropology |volume=2 |issue=2 |date=December 1975 |last1=King |first1=Chester}}</ref><ref>Maxwell, Thomas J. (1982). ''The Temescals of Arroyo Conejo''. California Lutheran College. Page 93. Library of Congress Catalog Number 82-072788.</ref> The village of Kayɨwɨš ([[Chumashan languages|Chumash]]: "The Head") was first encountered by Europeans of the first [[Portola expedition]] on August 16, 1795.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://camarillo-smart-growth.org/docs/Appendix%20C%20-%20Historic.pdf |title=Data |publisher=camarillo-smart-growth.org |access-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310002703/http://camarillo-smart-growth.org/docs/Appendix%20C%20-%20Historic.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===19th century===
{{stack|[[File:Adolfo Camarillo on a Camarillo White Horse.png|thumb|upright|Camarillo is named after [[Californio]] brothers [[Adolfo Camarillo]] (pictured) and [[Juan Camarillo Jr.]], who founded the city on their [[Rancho Calleguas]].]]}}
By the early 1820s, Mexico had gained independence from Spain, and shortly afterward California allied itself with Mexico. The Mexican land grant system was liberalized in 1824, resulting in many large grants in California and the proliferation of Ranchos north of the border. One grant to José Pedro Ruiz created [[Rancho Calleguas]] in 1837, in the area that is now Camarillo. The grant was later sold to Juan Camarillo, who had arrived in 1834 as a member of the [[Híjar-Padrés colony]];<ref name="Lees pastoral region insert page 4">{{cite news |title=What's in a name? The cities of the region |first=Hermine |last=Lees |date=February 5, 2010 |url=http://www.the-tidings.com/2010/020510/sbcities.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128235450/http://the-tidings.com/2010/020510/sbcities.htm |archive-date=November 28, 2010 |access-date=December 19, 2014 |newspaper=[[The Tidings (newspaper)|The Tidings]] | publisher = [[Archdiocese of Los Angeles]] | location = Los Angeles | page = pastoral region insert page 4}}</ref> his sons, Adolfo and Juan, began developing a ranch on the Pleasant Valley area of the vast fertile Oxnard Plain.

===Early 20th century ===
Around 1910, the area for the original town site of Camarillo was beginning to be laid out. The town was centered around St. Mary Magdalen Church, which was to serve as the family chapel for Adolfo Camarillo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://camarillobuilding.tripod.com/HTMLobj-241/WFultonArticle.pdf|title=Camarillo's Old Town Project May Be Model For Other Cities|last=Fulton|first=William|website=www.insidevc.com}}</ref> In 1927 Don Juan Camarillo, brother of Adolfo, donated {{convert|100|acre|km2}} to be used as a seminary to be named in honor of [[Saint John the Evangelist]]. The Roman Catholic seminary was opened in 1939 as [[St. John's Seminary (California)|St. John's Seminary]].<ref name="stjohn">{{cite web| url=http://stjohnsem.edu/history/ |title=History |publisher=St. John's Seminary |access-date=March 2, 2016}}</ref>

Camarillo's growth was slow from founding through World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citytowninfo.com/places/california/camarillo|title=Camarillo, California - City Information, Fast Facts, Schools, Colleges, and More|website=citytowninfo.com|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> In the late 1940s, building lots on Ventura Boulevard, the main downtown street, were being offered for $450 and home lots on the adjoining streets were $250, with few buyers. Travel to and from Los Angeles was difficult, owing to the narrow, tortuous road climbing the Conejo Grade to the east of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.venturaweekly.com/history/camarillo|title=History of Camarillo|website=www.venturaweekly.com|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref>

The main industry during this period was agriculture, and the area surrounding the small town was blanketed with orange, lemon and walnut groves. The State Mental hospital, that was built south of the town, was the largest employer. A few houses had sprung up to the north and south of town center. The Oxnard Army Air Field, built during World War II to the west of town, the Naval Air Facility at [[Point Mugu]] and the Seabee base at [[Port Hueneme]] brought many military personnel to the area, but there was little private industry or other source of non-agricultural employment.
{{stack|[[File:Library_at_the_Camarillo_Catholic_Seminary.jpg|thumb|[[St. John's Seminary (California)|St. John's Seminary]] was built on land donated by Juan Camarillo Jr. from his Rancho Calleguas in 1927.]]}}
Oxnard AAF closed at the end of World War II, but the Navy facilities remained open, with the airfield upgraded to [[Naval Air Station Point Mugu]] and the Seabee base becoming [[Naval Base Ventura County|Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme and Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme]]. With the [[Korean War]] and associated [[Cold War]] tensions, the former Oxnard AAF was reactivated in 1951 as [[Oxnard Air Force Base]], an [[Air Defense Command]] / [[Aerospace Defense Command]] fighter-interceptor base, that closed again in 1970 and became the present-day [[Camarillo Airport]].

In the mid-1950s, the [[Ventura Freeway]] was completed from Los Angeles to points north, making it an easy one-hour trip to Camarillo. The Old Town was bisect by the Ventura Freeway. On the southern side of the freeway contains a strip of businesses, churches, schools, and parks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/camarillo/2019/09/30/old-town-camarillo-ca-courthouse-dizdar-park/2409632001/|title=Here's a first look at the big changes coming to Old Town Camarillo|last=Childs|first=Jeremy|date=September 30, 2019|newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]]|language=en|access-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref> The freeway was originally planned to follow the path of Potrero Road, south of Camarillo, which would have completely by-passed the soon-to-be city.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} However, after much debate, city officials persuaded [[Caltrans]] to lay the freeway parallel to Ventura Boulevard, creating the infamously steep descent from the [[Santa Monica Mountains]], known as the [[Conejo Grade]]. The grade is about {{convert|2.7|mi|km}} and posted as a 7% grade—which translates as about one thousand feet of elevation change in less than three miles (70 meters per kilometer). There is a [[California Highway Patrol]] brake inspection station at the top of the grade and a stop is mandatory for all 18-wheel trucks. The completion of the freeway facilitated the growth that followed. In 1962, the population was 7,500 and [[3M]] began construction for the [[3M|Mincom]] and Magnetic Tape Divisions, which would ultimately employ 900 people, becoming the largest local employer. That plant briefly housed a factory for 3M [[corporate spin-off|spinoff]] [[Imation]] before being closed in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Brad|title=IMATION ANNOUNCES FURTHER MANUFACTURING OPTIMIZATION STEPS|url=http://ir.imation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73967&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1177468&highlight=|publisher=Imation Corp.|access-date=May 24, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630072140/http://ir.imation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73967&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1177468&highlight=|archive-date=June 30, 2014}}</ref>

===Incorporation===
[[File:Camarillo Ranch House 2.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Camarillo Ranch House]], built by the Camarillo brothers on their Rancho Calleguas.]]
Plans were made for the incorporation of the city to control the rapid expansion. Camarillo became a city in 1964 and soon put into place a General Plan and building codes. In 1964 the closest traffic signal was {{convert|2|mi|km}} from the city center on the road to Point Mugu, and the first shopping center and supermarket were under construction.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Many of the home buyers during the 1960s were military veterans, who had been stationed at one of the local bases. The temperate climate and the living conditions lured them back. With the establishment of both the Pacific Missile Range at NAS Point Mugu and the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory at Port Hueneme many found employment that utilized their military training. Other newcomers were those who worked and lived in the [[San Fernando Valley]] and were willing to endure the commute for the opportunity to raise their families in a smog-free, semirural environment. Still others relocated here with their employers, like 3M, and [[Harbor Freight Tools]] who built facilities in and around the city to take advantage of the large workforce. [[Technicolor]] Video Services Inc. was the largest DVD duplicator in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.technicolor.com/GlobalEnglish/Corporate/About/Pages/default.aspx|title=Technicolor Home Page}}{{dead link|date=July 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2014, the council voted against an {{convert|895|acre|ha|adj=mid| project}} that would have extended development on agricultural lands east towards the [[Conejo Grade]].<ref>Harris, Mike (September 10, 2014) [http://archive.vcstar.com/news/special/paradise/camarillo-council-kills-plans-for-large-development-ep-607165386-351245731.html "Camarillo council kills plans for large development"] ''[[Ventura County Star]]''</ref>

;Camarillo Springs Fire
{{Main|Springs Fire}}
Beginning 7:02 am. on Thursday, May 2, 2013, a major brush fire began in the Camarillo Springs area and burned throughout the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=780|title=Springs Fire General Information|website=cdfdata.fire.ca.gov|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=September 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920211220/http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=780|url-status=dead}}</ref> The community of Dos Vientos and CSUCI were evacuated due to the proximity of the fire. About 15 houses were damaged, but none burned down. 28,000 acres of land was burned by the fire. Finally, on Sunday, May 5, 2013, rain in the area during the night helped firefighters bring the fire under full control.{{Citation needed|date=September 2014}}