Editing Ojai, California (section)

=== Libbey ===
Nordhoff became a popular wintering spot for wealthy Easterners and Midwesterners. The elite Foothills Hotel, which catered to them, was built on a mountain overlooking the town in 1903. Visitors enjoyed dining, music concerts, horseback riding, and hunting and fishing trips into the back country. Some of these businessmen built homes in the valley and contributed to the community's development. Among these winter visitors were Edward Drummond Libbey and his wife Florence. Their first winter in Ojai was in 1907. Libbey was the owner of the Libbey Glass Company of Toledo, Ohio. He fell in love with the valley, bought property in the Foothills tract in 1909, and built a Craftsman-style house designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey.<ref>Walker, Craig. ''Ojai by Design: Fine Architecture of the Ojai Valley''. Arts Commission of the City of Ojai. 2017. p.12</ref>

Steeped in [[City Beautiful]] ideals, Libbey began thinking about what could be done to beautify the existing rustic town. He bought up all the properties on the south side of Ojai Avenue (where Libbey Park is today) and most of the buildings there were demolished. In 1916, he hired the architectural firm of Frank Mead and Richard Requa of San Diego to transform Nordhoff into the Spanish-style town center seen today. The project included a Mission-style arcade along the main street, a bell-tower reminiscent of the famous campanile of the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Havana, Cuba (also known as the Havana Cathedral), and a pergola with two arches opposite the arcade.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In March 1917, just after completion of the renovation project, the name of the town was changed to Ojai. The valley had always been known as "The Ojai".<ref>Lewis, Mark. "Inventing Ojai," ''Ojai Quarterly'', Winter 2016-17, pp.120-126</ref> Leading up to and during World War I, American sentiment became increasingly [[Anti-German sentiment|anti-German]]. Across the United States, German and German-sounding place names were changed. Some Ojai writers in the past have speculated that anti-German sentiment contributed to the name change of Nordhoff to Ojai in 1917.<ref>{{cite news|title=Looking for Charles Nordhoff|last=Meltzer|first=Betty Kikumi|date=August 21, 2005|work=Redlands Daily Facts|location=Redlands, Calif.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rediscovering the Lost Horizon: Shangri-la Does Exist - It's in California and It's Idyllic, says Angela Wigglesworth|last=Wigglesworth|first=Angela|date=August 29, 1998|work=Financial Times|location=London (UK)|page=18}}</ref> There is no clear evidence that this was the case for the name change in Ojai.<ref name="VCS 2031-08-01">{{Cite news|last=Woods II|first=Wes|date=August 1, 2021|title=Ojai keeps its small town charm 100 years later|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2021/08/01/ojai-keeps-its-small-town-charm-100-years-later/8093123002/|access-date=August 8, 2021|newspaper=Ventura County Star|language=en-US}}</ref>

To thank Libbey for his gifts to the town, the citizens proposed a celebration in the new Civic Center Park (later changed to Libbey Park) that they wished to call "Libbey Day," but Libbey suggested "Ojai Day" instead. The first Ojai Day took place April 7, 1917.<ref>"Idealized Ojai Receives Recognition As Does Also Its Benefactor," ''The Ojai'', April 13, 1917, 1</ref> Ojai Day was celebrated each year until 1928. Local schoolteacher Craig Walker revived Ojai Day in 1991 and it has been celebrated since.<ref name=":2">Fry, Patricia, Elise DePuydt, and Craig Walker. ''The Ojai Valley: An Illustrated History.'' Ojai Valley Museum Edition. 2017. Ojai, California. p.225, pp. 333-334</ref> The Ojai Day celebration takes place in October.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In 1917 two fires struck the community. The first started in Matilija Canyon on June 16 and burned 60 buildings in its path, including many homes and the Foothills Hotel. The newly Spanish-style structures in the downtown were not affected. On November 28, 1917, a fire started in a gasoline stove in a store in the Arcade and the stores in the western half of the Arcade burned down. Part of the Arcade suffered smoke damage but did not burn down.<ref>Fry, Patricia, Elise DePuydt & Craig Walker, ''The Ojai Valley: An Illustrated History''. Ojai Valley Museum. 2017. pp.188-189</ref> A new Spanish-style Foothills Hotel was built in 1919–1920 to replace the one that burned down.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}