Wheeler Hot Springs: New Owners Confront Old Issues
Wheeler Hot Springs: New Owners Confront Old Issues by Mark Lewis From the Ojai Quarterly. Most Ojai visitors arrive from the south on Highway 33 and turn right at the Y, heading toward the Arcade or the Ojai Valley Inn. But there was a time, not all that long ago, when many of these drivers would [...]
Walker Built Homes on Cutting Edge of Day’s Design
Walker Built Homes on Cutting Edge of Day’s Design by David Mason “What man has learned about himself in the last five years will, we are sure, express itself in the way he will want to be housed in the future.” Arts & Architecture – January 1945 After World War II, the newspaper and magazine [...]
The Age of Reformation: The founding of AARP in Ojai
The Age of Reformation: Ethel Andrus and the Founding of AARP by Craig Walker and Bret Bradigan from The Ojai Quarterly As Jack Fay remembers it, it was just a quiet business dinner with six people in a small meeting room at the Ojai Valley Inn. The air wasn’t charged with the momentous changes about [...]
Photo: Ojai Train at Devil’s Gulch
These pictures are from the book Southern Pacific’s Scenic Coast Line – A Color Pictorial by Tom Dill. They were taken by Stan Kisler. “The last steam run up the Ojai Branch occurred on May 22, 1955. This was an early form of “push-pull” operation with the 2771 on one end and the 2367 on [...]
Faria Home Now Cluff Vista Park
The Faria property along Ojai Avenue is now the location of Cluff Vista Park. The Faria family patriarch, Manuel del Terra Faria, was a Portugese immigrant from the Azores. The family built their home in Ojai during the 1920s. There was a main house and guest house at the back of the property along Rincon Street. [...]
Our Town: Helen Baker Reynolds (Part V) “School”
Helen Baker Reynolds (Part V) by Ed Wenig [This week we quote from the chapter “School”, in the book “Family Album” by Helen Baker Reynolds.] “The grammar school stood just across the road, opposite our side gate. It was a drab, square, two-story building, topped with a cupola housing the school bell, and with two [...]
Our Town: Helen Baker Reynolds (Part III) “Days Ritual”
Helen Baker Reynolds (Part III) by Ed Wenig This is the third in a series of articles consisting of quotations from passages in Helen Baker Reynold’s book, “Family Album”. The Following is from the chapter, “Day’s Ritual”. “Our household was a smug little world. Father was its Absolute Monarch, whose cardinal principle in dealing with [...]
Photo: Foodway Market in Meiners Oaks
The Foodway Market in Meiners Oaks. This building is now Don’s Gym. Thanks to Brian Aikens for the photograph.
Postcard: Matilija Hot Springs Pool
Bathers on the Steps of the Plunge. The Ojai newspaper reported in March 1902 that “Work on the building to surmount the plunges at Matilija Hot Springs has been begun, and the frameworks will be up in a couple of weeks with propitious weather.” The indoor pool was 150 feet long and 65 feet wide. [...]
Early Stories of Ojai, Part IX (Dog Fights)
Early Stories of Ojai, Part IX (Dog Fights) by Howard Bald Note: Howard Bald was an early Ojai resident. His reminiscences were written in the early 1970s. Another well known character of that day was a brawny, brawling Irishman named Tim Dundon. His main hobby was fighting bull dogs. His most famous fighting dog was [...]
Early Stories of Ojai, Part VIII (Horses)
Early Stories of Ojai, Part VIII (Horses) by Howard Bald Note: Howard Bald was an early Ojai resident. His reminiscences were written in the early 1970s. Having a fondness for horses, the livery stable* was the center of much of my attention. I was out of school a good deal and the livery stable was [...]
Our Town, Part 2-Social Life in Early Nordhoff
Our Town, Part 2 by Helen Baker Reynolds Among the valley’s residents even in earlier times were families whose interests were not provincial. A reading club and a “Chautauqua” group had been formed for the purpose of study, and when mother started a Shakespeare Club it too became a focus of studious effort. The members [...]
