Faria, also known as Faria Beach, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. Faria runs along the ocean side of California State Route 1, northwest of Ventura between Ventura and

Carpinteria Carpinteria (; es, Carpintería, meaning "Carpentry") is a small seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, it had a population of 13,264 at the 2020 census. Carpinteria is a po ...

. It is within the

Ventura Unified School District The Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) is a school district headquartered in Ventura, California, United States. The district serves students in Ventura and surrounding unincorporated communities of Ventura County including Saticoy, Casit ...

and has a Ventura ZIP Code.

Geography

Faria is located on Pitas Point, a popular surf spot also known as "Whistles." The rocky point faces south, with stretches of sandy beach running northeast and northwest from the point. Pitas Point and nearby Punta Gorda were created by large uplift events. During an ancient earthquake, this area of the Rincon suddenly grew between 16 feet to 26 feet out of the surf zone as mechanically interlinked faults ruptured simultaneously. Scientists have made observations of old sections of shoreline along the coastal terrace and found that exceptionally large earthquakes had occurred on the Ventura-Pitas Point faults due to the simultaneous rupturing of the interlinked faults. They also reached the conclusion that much larger earthquakes could occur than had previously been predicted.

History

In 1769, the Spanish

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1 ...

came northwest along the beach from the previous night's encampment on the

Ventura River The Ventura River, in western Ventura County in southern California, United States, flows from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura V ...

. The explorers found a small native village near a watering place at what is now called "Padre Juan Canyon" (which reaches the sea at Pitas Point) and camped nearby on August 15. "Padre Juan" refers to Fray

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, a Franciscan missionary travelling with the expedition, who noted that the natives "kept us awake playing all night on some doleful pipes or whistles". Thus the point was named "los pitos" - Spanish for "whistles". Later American coast survey mapping misspelled the name as "Las Pitas", which was the Spanish name for the

Agave americana ''Agave americana'', common names century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Mexico and the United States in Texas. It is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant, and has b ...

(century plant).

Supreme Court case

Beach access at one of the beachfront homes was the subject of the 1987

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

case ''

Nollan v. California Coastal Commission In ''Nollan v. California Coastal Commission'', 483 U.S. 825 (1987), the United States Supreme Court reviewed a regulation under which the California Coastal Commission required that an offer to dedicate a lateral public easement along the Noll ...

.''

References

Populated coastal places in California Unincorporated communities in Ventura County, California Unincorporated communities in California Beaches of Ventura County, California {{VenturaCountyCA-geo-stub