Editing Piru, California (section)

=== Rancho and settler town ===
The town was founded in 1887 by [[David C. Cook]] from [[Elgin, Illinois]], a wealthy publisher of [[Sunday School]] [[tract (literature)|tracts]] and supplies who bought the [[Rancho Temescal]] Mexican land grant from the sons of [[Ygnacio del Valle]].<ref name="church">Johnson, Brett (December 24, 2011) [http://www.vcstar.com/lifestyle/tiny-piru-church-has-big-history-and-movie-star "Tiny Piru church has big history and movie-star looks"] ''[[Ventura County Star]]''</ref> Wanting to establish a "Second Garden of Eden" in this part of the Santa Clara River Valley, Cook specified, tradition says, that the acreage be planted with fruits identified with the Biblical garden—apricots, dates, figs, grapes, olives and pomegranates. That same year, he built his first home, a [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]] structure, at the southwest corner of Main and Center Streets.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}

The [[Coast Line (UP)|coast rail line]] was built through the valley in 1887. Because a small depot was already going to be built in nearby [[Rancho Camulos|Camulos]],<ref>{{Cite GNIS|270247|Camulos |access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref> [[Charles Crocker]] of [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] refused to build a depot in Piru. This so annoyed Cook that he built his own depot and hired a stationmaster. Cook laid out the town around the railroad in 1888.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}

The [[United States Post Office Department|U.S. Post Office Department]] established the Piru Post Office on June 14, 1888.<ref name=webpmt.usps.gov>{{cite web |title=Post Offices by County |work=[[United States Postal Service|USPS]] |url=http://webpmt.usps.gov/pmt007.cfm?PostOfficeCounty=Ventura&stat_state_name=CALIFORNIA |access-date=July 1, 2011}}</ref><ref name=Storke>{{cite book|title=A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo And Ventura, California| author=Storke, Mrs. Yda Addis|publisher=Lewis|location=Chicago|url=https://archive.org/details/memorialbiogra00stor|page=[https://archive.org/details/memorialbiogra00stor/page/183 183]|year=1891}}</ref>{{rp|page=194}}<ref group=note>Ventura County settlements with a Post Office in 1890 included [[Bardsdale, California|Bardsdale]], [[Rancho Camulos|Camulos]], [[Fillmore, California|Fillmore]], [[Ojala, California|Matilija]], [[Montalvo, Ventura, California|Montalvo]], [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]], [[El Rio, California|New Jerusalem]], Piru City, Punta Gorda, [[Simi Valley, California|Simi]], [[Camarillo, California#Springville|Springville]], and [[Conejo Valley|Timberville]]. Larger Post Offices in [[Ventura, California|Ventura]], [[Port Hueneme, California|Hueneme]], [[Santa Paula, California|Santa Paula]], [[Saticoy, California|Saticoy]], and [[Ojai, California|Nordoff]] provided money order service (Ventura also handled International exchange).</ref> Legend has it that the change in pronunciation was brought about by conductors of [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] trains, who would shout out, "Pie-roo!" when pulling into town.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |last5= |last6= |last7= |last8= |first8= |last9= |date=1990-06-20 |title=PIRU : What's in a Name? Mispronunciation |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-20-me-65-story.html |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Another story tells of a Piru restaurant known for good pies. The owner hung a sign proclaiming, "We Put The Pie In Piru."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Piru, California • Beyond Nevada Expeditions |url=https://beyond.nvexpeditions.com/california/ventura/piru.php |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=beyond.nvexpeditions.com}}</ref>

In 1890, Cook built a lavish [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne Style]] home a few blocks northwest of his original home, which came to be known as the [[Piru Mansion]]. A strict [[Methodism|Methodist]], he provided for construction of a church on the north side of Center Street, just west of Main. The church front is used in the movie ''[[J. W. Coop]]'' starring [[Cliff Robertson]] (1972). His home at Main and Center became the Piru Hotel. Cook sold out to the Piru Oil and Land Company in 1900 after being cured of his ailments and realizing a profit due to recent oil discoveries.<ref>[http://gis.ventura.org/RecordMaps/mr/005/005mr004.pdf "MAP of PIRU: the property of the PIRU OIL and LAND CO."] 5 MR 4. ''Ventura County Recorder'' Retrieved November 6, 2014, from [http://gis.ventura.org/CountyView/ CountyView GIS].</ref>

For her novel ''[[Ramona]]'' (1884), [[Helen Hunt Jackson]] had used nearby [[Rancho Camulos]] as one of the settings. Portions of the 1910 [[silent film|silent movie]] [[Ramona (1910 film)|of the same name]], starring [[Mary Pickford]], were shot there. During the production, Pickford, [[D. W. Griffith|D.W. Griffith]] and others of the cast and crew, stayed at the Piru Hotel. The hotel later became known as the Mountain View Hotel. The name was later changed to the Round Rock Hotel, because of a large, round boulder located in the northeast corner of the front yard.<ref name=":0" />