This first weekend of February, my trip of the week took me to the Heritage Valley Trail.   No it's not hiking...it's a trip by car.  It is approximately 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles up Hwy 5.  Then head west on Hwy 126 and you begin a journey back in time..

My first stop was Piru and Lake Piru.  This quiet community was founded circa 1887 by David C. Cook who came to the valley with the idea of establishing a "Second Garden of Eden." This word is derived from the Indian term for a reed that grew along the creek banks, and was used in basket-making. They pronounced it much like ‘peet hoo’ according to the oldtimers; and it gradually became sounded ‘pee roo’, spelled piru. “However”, Joe Paul wrote, “train conductors shouted out ‘Pie roo’; and a restaurant operator erected a sign proclaiming that he had put the ‘Pie’ in Piru; and little by little it became ‘Pie roo’, except for the oldtimers and natives who knew better.”
Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly, (Winter, 1972)

Piru, a part of the 14,000 acres of the Piru Fruit Rancho, is situated near the base of the mountains where the Piru Creek and the Santa Clara River meet. It is in the upper end of the Santa Clara Valley, in the eastern section of Ventura County. The name Piru was derived from the grass or reeds that grew in the Piru Creek which were used for basket weaving by the Piru Indians, members of the Haminot tribe. The property, which was patented to the Temescal Land Grant, was purchased in 1887 from the Del Valle brothers by David C. Cook of Elgin, Illinois, the proprietor of the greatest publishing house in the United States. This was quickly followed by the founding of the town of Piru City, as it was once called, owned and controlled by Mr. Cook.

Soon Piru City became known as a flourishing horticulture center. This was due to Mr. Cook’s influence since he had come here not only for his health but to establish a community that would duplicate in its groves and orchards of fruit trees, those of the Holy Land in Biblical times. Piru City was often referred to as the Second Garden of Eden. When David C. Cook bought the Piru Fruit Rancho in 1887, he acquired with the land a valuable water right, allowing him to appropriate the waters of the Piru Creek for irrigation purposes. The water system, consisting of 30 miles of pipes, flumes and canals, had been planned in order to properly irrigate the mammoth orchards extending from Piru City westward, a distance of one and a half miles, and up the Piru Canyon, a distance of six miles.

Besides being prominent as a horticulture center, Piru City enjoyed prosperity due to the immense freight business caused by the large orders of the Piru Fruit Rancho as well as by the numerous oil wells in the vicinity and on the Rancho. In the winter of 1887-88, the large Methodist Church was erected and on June 1888, the post office was opened with four daily mails. The Piru Rancho Gold Mining Company, which was that portion of the Piru Rancho located in Los Angeles County and was included in the old Temescal Land Grant, was still being worked in 1899 having been extensively mined from 1810-1840 before the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.

David C. Cook, founder of Piru, developed his Second Garden of Eden for 15 years before regaining his health and returning to Elgin, Illinois to resume his position as head of the publishing house. Since Mr. Cook was a strick prohibitionist he was disappointed with many of his employees who were supposed to abstain from swearing and liquor.

Piru is a quiet little community, a favorite location for all of the movie companies. One of the largest citrus packing houses in located here. Piru Lake, controlled by the United Water Conservation District, is a recreational area for water skiing, fishing, and camping.

Places of interest include Rancho Camulos, which Helen Hunt Jackson selected as the home of her heroine in her novel, Ramona and The Mansion, the beautiful house Mr. Cook built for his bride, an historical monument, now owned by Ruth and Scott Newhall.

After visiting the sites in Piru...I continued down Hwy 126 to the town of Fillmore.

The late 1800s were a busy time in Southern California. The railroad arrived, real estate sales were booming and a pioneering spirit permeated the air. Every town liked to think of being the best place to live, raise a family and prosper. Santa Clara Valley, which was sheep and cattle country, was no exception. The first orange grove was set out on five acres in 1888 as an experiment, ten years later in 1899 Fillmore was classified as "a horticultural center for oranges, lemons and apricots. Apricots proved to be too risky so they were replaced with walnuts. Walnut groves also required too much work so in the late 40s walnuts were replaced with navel and valencia oranges. Since 1950 many acres of avocados have been planted.

The late 1800s oil was discovered and in 1924 the Texaco Refinery was built east of the downtown, it was shut down in 1950.

When the Southern Pacific railroad came through our valley in 1886-87, company representatives wanted to promote the area east of Fillmore. The landowner would not sell any of his property so they went west to an area where the Santa Clara River and Sespe Creek meet. The Sespe Land and Water Company joined the Southern Pacific Company in promoting Fillmore, named after Jerome A. Fillmore, the Southern Pacific General Superintendent.

On August 1, 1888, a street map of the town of Fillmore was recorded in the Ventura County Courthouse. Fillmore continued to grow and prosper. By 1900 Fillmore had a population of 150. The first schoolhouse was built in 1874 or 75. It was 20 by 30 feet with three windows on each side. The first graduating class of Fillmore High School was in 1911 with four students.

Main Street was originally the street that businesses built on, but in 1903 a fire burned most of the businesses. A building spree in 1910 on Central Avenue took place, along with streetlights. Much of the land was owned by the Sespe Land and Water Company, which gradually sold off parcels to ranchers who began raising lemons and oranges. After 1910, large parcels began to be subdivided for housing. Other later tracts have been developed but have not detracted from the small town image Fillmore still wishes to retain.

In 1914, Fillmore was incorporated as the City of Fillmore in Ventura County. On January 13, 1935, the last passenger train stopped here, ending a colorful era. Many changes have taken place and will continue to take place in the future as we continue to grow as a mid-western type town located in the very heartland of bustling Southern California.

Since the city’s incorporation in 1914, Fillmore City Hall has been in six locations. The sixth building is the beautiful Neo Classical building, built in 1997, and located at the corner of Central Avenue and Santa Clara Street.

Fillmore has now grown to almost 14,000 population and still can proudly say agriculture is the main source of income. The railroad is back in operation as a tourist train, downtown still has the 30s look and the city still boasts that it is "The Last Best Small Town in Southern California.

It was in Fillmore I had lunch at the Fillmore Cafe off of Main Street.  What a delight with it's home cookin' food. I had the fried chicken, potatoes and homemade cornbread.  I then took the back roads back toward the coast with a stop in Somis, California. 

Here I stopped at the Nut House where I bought many varieties of nuts and candied nuts.  Just down the road was an organic farmers market.  I then continued from Somis through Camarillo to the coast and took the delightful Hwy 1 back to Santa Monica!