Ojai Through the Years

1889 1922

OJAI THROUGH THE years

1874 The town of Nordhoff was founded with great fanfare by Thomas Royce Surdam, a very busy real estate developer and former gold miner. He bought 1,700 acres that year and built the Blumberg Hotel. More than 300 people attended the opening event and he sold land for $6.25 an acre.

1889 Long regarded as one of the finest prep schools in the country, The Thacher School was founded by William and Sherman Thacher and has several famous alumni, including Thornton Wilder, Howard Hughes and actor Noah Wylie. Its original motto was “Teach a boy to shoot a rifle, ride and horse and tell the truth.”

Changed name to Ojai after a massive redevelopment project led by Edward Drummond Libbey, 1917 an Ohio glass magnate and frequent winter visitor. The fire of 1917 burned so many buildings that Libbey and others used that blank canvas to rebuild in the spirit of the “City Beautiful Movement,” which held that people are shaped by their living environments. Among the landmarks built in that epochal period were the Post Office Tower; modeled after the Campanile in Havana, Cuba; Libbey Bowl, the Arcade; the St. Thomas Aquinas Church; (now the Ojai Valley Museum); and the Ojai Country Club, now the Ojai Valley Inn.

1921

1947

fanfare.

Jiddhu Krishnamurti comes to town, sponsored by the Theosophist Society, along with his tuberculosis-suffering younger brother Nitya. Positioned by the Theosophists as the “World Leader,” Krishnamurti rejected that title with his famous essay, “Truth is a Pathless Land.” He once held the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s most prolific public speaker.

1922

Colman and featured scenes from the Ojai Valley, much of which was left on the cutting-room floor. The establishing shot of the Ojai Valley from Denison Grade remained, and Ojai’s link to the mythical Shangri-La has endured ever since.

1947 A key year for Ojai as the Ojai Valley Inn opened with a star-studded guest list and partners (Loretta Young pictured at left), “The Ojai” — as the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament is affectionately known, returned bigger than ever after a five-year World War II hiatus and the Ojai Music Festival was founded. 1953-54 Aldous Huxley, a frequent visitor and co-founder of Besant Hill School, published “Doors of Perception” about his experiences with mescaline. Two of the three “trips” took place in the upper Ojai Valley. A massive flood swept through the Ojai Valley, causing millions of dollars of damage. Most tragically, six Boy Scouts camping in the Sespe backcountry were drowned, along with their adult leader and three rescuers. The Manson Family murders comes home to Ojai, when lawyer Ronald Hughes’ body was found in the Sespe Hot Springs area. The notorious cult also had other connections to Ojai, as they overstayed their welcome at a local campground, believed to be either Camp Comfort or Wheeler Hot Springs or both.

1969

1971

1948

1948 Beatrice Wood, a frequent visitor to Ojai for Krishnamurti’s Star Camp lectures, permanently moves to town. “The Mama of Dada” lived here until her death in 1998 at age 105. Her close friendships with key 20th century artists Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia and Man Ray did much to establish Ojai’s identity as an artist mecca.

THE OJAI RETREAT & INN

OJAI'S BEAUTIFUL HILLTOP GETAWAY 2004-2005 A series of powerful rainstorms flooded the Ojai Valley and led to Ojai being shut off from the outside world for more than a week, with our main artery, Highway 33, being cut down to one lane of traffic for months. It took several months for Highways 150 and the 33 from Ojai to Santa Paula to reopen. A mudslide on January 10 killed 10 people at nearby La Conchita.

2017 The Thomas Fire raged through and around the Ojai Valley, charring more than 250,000 acres; the largest wildfire in California history to that time. Five years later, it ranks ninth.

OJAI'S PRIME WEDDING LOCATION TheOjaiRetreat&Innoffersa 5acrehilltopvenuewithamazingviews from3outdoorand1indoorlocations. Wearehappytogiveyouatour. Schedule Your Visit!