Sharing the history of the Ojai Valley
Bathing Girls at Wheeler’s Hot Springs. There was no reason to be morose about the ultimate destiny of the springs. Here was one way of having fun. The women have arms and legs uncovered, so the photograph must be sometime during the 1920s.
The above is an excerpt from Ojai: A Postcard History, by Richard Hoye, Tom Moore, Craig Walker, and available at Ojai Valley Museum or at Amazon.com.
This is the annual gathering of the U.S. Forest Rangers, Santa Barbara Forest Reserve, at Matilija Hot Springs. Most of the rangers had districts in remote areas. Supervisor Willis M. Slosson held these gatherings once/year so that they could get together and exchange ideas.
—-Patricia Clark Doerner
Ojai State Bank. This remarkable building, with its classical columns, was constructed in 1910 and retained that name until it was purchased by the Bank of Italy in 1927 (subsequently, the Bank of America). Even while the businesses of the town of Nordhoff had the appearance of any frontier western town, with wooden false fronts, this elegant building stood facing them across the street. It was razed in 1960.
The Ojai State Bank was designed by Silas R. Burns, a partner of Sumner Hunt. Together they designed the Glen Tavern Inn in Santa Paula, the Southwest Museum in Pasadena, and the Automobile Club in Los Angeles.
In 1916 the bank was robbed by a local man. He wore a mask, but the teller recognized his boots. It’s hard to get away with anything in a small town like Ojai!
The above is an excerpt from Ojai: A Postcard History, by Richard Hoye, Tom Moore, Craig Walker, and available at Ojai Valley Museum or at Amazon.com.
Thacher School Administration Building. Several original Thacher School structures were destroyed in a 1910 fire. Sherman Thacher asked Arthur B. Benton, who was designing the first Nordhoff High School campus, to design the new Thacher administration building and dormitory. Arthur Benton, best known for Riverside’s Mission Inn, was one of the first proponents of Mission Revival architecture. Completed six years before Libbey’s transformation of downtown Ojai, the Thacher Schoolhouse is probably Ojai’s first Mission Revival building. Among those who once boarded here were author Thornton Wilder and businessman Howard Hughes.
The above is an excerpt from Ojai: A Postcard History, by Richard Hoye, Tom Moore, Craig Walker, and available at Ojai Valley Museum or at Amazon.com.