Cultural Landmark Ventura Near Me

4worldlovers:
The Ortega Adobe is an architectural example of smaller adobe homes that once lined Main Street in sharp contrast to the residences of wealthy landowners nearby. It was within this adobe that Emilio Ortega first began fire-roasting chiles, believed to be the first commercial food operation of its kind in California.


In July 2015, new interpretive panels (PDF) were placed inside the Ortega Adobe that give visitors the history of the adobe and it's residents.

Juan Ortega, the fifth son, married Rafaela Arrellanes and was the father of Emigdio Ortega, builder (in 1857) of the still existing Ortega Adobe. He married Maria Conception Jacinta Dominguez in 1836 at the Santa Barbara Mission. They moved their large family to San Buenaventura; first across the street and then into the Adobe. Emigdio built this adobe with rafters and beams taken from an old abandoned ranch house near Fillmore, hauled to the building site in two-wheeled ox carts (carretas). Over the rafters was laid a mat of bamboo canes, squeezed closely together and tied with rawhide. Then came a layer of grass and then a covering of mud. The roof tiles were added in later years.

This building was one of many adobes along Main Street on both sides of the San Buenaventura Mission and the last just east of the San Buenaventura River. A flood in 1866 nearly destroyed it, washing away the western half and also the land between the house and the river. For weeks, the children tramped along the river's mouth and the ocean trying to find family belongings they had lost in this calamity. Soon, two new rooms were added on the east side for use by the family.

Emilio Carlos Ortega, the eleventh child of Emigdio and Aria Conception Jacinta, became the founder of the Ortega Chili Company. He was the first person in California to make Spanish Chili Sauce and he made it right there at the Ortega Adobe, in his mother's kitchen. That happened in 1897. After great success Emilio Carlos moved his business to Los Angeles into bigger quarters.

4worldlovers: The Mission Padres and Indians built the seven-mile long aqueduct around 1805-15 to bring water to the Mission. Over the years weather and development have destroyed most of it. The primary remaining segment is located on Canada Larga Road. It is about one hundred feet long and seven feet high and five to ten feet wide including the supporting buttresses. The Ventura County Parks Department owns the site. The site was purchased in the Seventies to prevent destruction. County Parks maintains the site with a fence, weeding, security and grading. The Mission Aqueduct in the Ventura River Valley is in need of long-term weather protection. The Mission Aqueduct is one of the County’s oldest and most valuable Landmarks (No. 28), State Landmark, and National Register site, and one of the very few recognized by all three government levels. The El Nino and 2005 rain storms eroded the site bringing the nearby creek closer, destroyed the protective fence, and tipped the front segment of the Aqueduct on its side.

As a result of the storm damage, the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board created the Mission Aqueduct Task Force to study and make recommendations that assure the long-term viability of the site. The membership is open to any interested person. The Task Force examines physical, jurisdictional/support, and documentation problems of the Aqueduct. In early 1999, Robert Lopez, a Moorpark College Archaeologist, his students, and Task Force members led a site walk of the entire seven-mile length of the Aqueduct to record the route on topographic maps and to find any remaining segments. Additionally, members of the Task Force photo documented the site and the County Museum created a bibliography of the known materials.

The Task Force has acknowledged that the long term protection from downstream bank erosion remains the primary concern. Our primary objective is to obtain $10,000 for an engineering feasibility study to find a bank erosion solution.

Additionally, most seem to preliminarily agree that a permanent, protective roof is also needed. This might also include very limited site development with several parking spaces and more educational materials. This would also require substantial protection of the structure from vandalism.

Recent Activities: A sign has been added to the site giving minimal historic context. At our request, Caltrans is about to install signs on Highway 33 directing the public to the State Landmark. Other important changes include a regrading of the site to divert rainwater, rebuilding the fence, and temporarily installing “J” rails in February 2008 due to a pending major storm.

The Future: All of the site protection steps will require funds not presently available. Therefore, donations are being sought to assist in preserving this important vestige of Ventura County's, California's and the Nation's history. If you feel so inclined please call the number at the end of the newsletter about where to direct a donation.

Further reading: There are several fine studies that have been done over the years that are open to the public.

The San Buenaventura Mission Aqueduct at Canada Larga is a significant structure in both Ventura County and Western American history. The magnificent waterway is among the most interesting landmarks on the Pacific Coast that was left to us as a legacy by the California Mission System.

The remaining aqueduct at Canada Larga survives as a small but significant portion of the extensive San Buenaventura Mission Water System. The historic data surrounding the development of San Buenaventura Mission point to an aqueduct construction date within the years 1805 and 1815.

Mexican artisans (stonecutters and stonemasons) forever changed the appearance of California missions. Imported by the Spanish government in 1770 until 1800 to serve as laborers and instructors to the neophyte Indians they imparted enough skills to the neophytes to do masonry construction which flourished throughout the California mission system. the Mexican artisans imparted enough masonry construction skills to the Indians The dexterity and agility of the Chumash Indians combined with the skills learned from the Spanish artisans created the elaborate seven-mile aqueduct running along the Ventura foothills. Without a permanent water supply, the San Buenaventura Mission community could not have survived.

The composition and style of the aqueduct at Canada Larga, like other raised mission aqueducts, reflects missionary interest in traditional architecture. It, like the mission, testifies to the influences of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (First Century B.C. Roman architect and engineer), and the importance of classical architecture in the world of Spanish California.