Saticoy (;

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also *Chumash traditional n ...

: ''Sa'aqtik'oy'') 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, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

, United States. The settlement was laid out in 1887 along the railroad line that was being built from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

through the Santa Clara River Valley to the town of San Buenaventura. Although the town was distant at that time, the City of Ventura grew so the community is now just outside the city limits."TOWN OF SATICOY"
3 MR 20. ''Ventura County Recorder'' Surveyed Sep. 1887, Recorded May 1, 1889. Retrieved October 28, 2013 fro
CountyView GIS: layer "Record Maps"
/ref> For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Saticoy as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP). The commercial district known as Old Town Saticoy is surrounded by a residential neighborhood with a population of just over one thousand. Two historic buildings attest to the important role Saticoy once held in the local agricultural economy: Walnut Growers Association Warehouse, and Saticoy (Lima) Bean Warehouse. The historic setting, stable residential population, railroad, and access to major highways make this community unique in Ventura County.Staff Report (March 6, 2014
"Planning Commission Workshop on the Saticoy Area Plan"''County of Ventura, Resource Management Agency, Planning Division''
/ref> South towards the Santa Clara River is a sizable industrial area located on both sides of Los Angeles Avenue.Martinez, Arlene (March 6, 2014
"Saticoy's future takes a step forward — on paper anyway"
''Ventura County Star'' The historic building that formerly housed the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Santa Paula, Saticoy Branch, stands at a quiet intersection that used to be at the center of a vibrant community.

Name

The name comes from the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

rendering of the Ventureño

village named ''Sa'aqtik'oy'', meaning "it is sheltered from the wind".

History

The earliest known human inhabitants of the vicinity were the Oak Grove People. Some ancient mealing stones of this prehistoric tribe were found near Saticoy in 1932 and traced back to about 3000 B.C. In about the early 15th century, the

tribe inhabited the area. They built canoes and milled the acorns. ''Sa'aqtik'oy'' was one of the largest settlements of the Chumash region, which extended from

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

and back into the foothills as far as the Coast Range. The natural underground springs located in the area made Saticoy a prime location for the tribe to hold their yearly meetings. 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 ...

, first recorded European visitors to inland areas of California, came down the valley from the previous night's encampment near today's

Santa Paula Santa Paula ( Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa P ...

and camped in the vicinity of Saticoy on August 13. 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 traveling with the expedition, noted that the party traveled about 6–7 miles that day and camped near a native village "composed of twenty houses made of grass, in a spherical form, like a half orange, with a vent at the top by which the light enters and the smoke goes out.". Saticoy lies within the vast Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy granted to Manuel Jimeno Casarin on April 28, 1840 by the Mexican government. In November 1861, Jefferson L. Crane settled at the site of the Chumash village, and other Americans followed soon after. Saticoy, which was then from Ventura, had a school as early as 1868. W.D.F. Richards, considered the founder of Saticoy, arrived in 1868, and bought of land. He contributed to the building up of the community and followed many experiments in farming. The Saticoy Post Office was established in 1873 by the

U.S. Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postm ...

which was one of seventeen post offices operating in the county in 1890.Post Offices in Ventura, Hueneme,

, Saticoy, and Nordoff provided money order service (Ventura also handled International exchange). Ventura County settlements with a Post Office in 1890 also included Bardsdale, Camulos, Fillmore, Matilija, Montalvo, Newbury Park,

New Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the ...

, Piru City, Punta Gorda, Simi, Springville, and Timberville.

R. G. Surdam Royce Gaylord Surdam (August 11, 1835 – September 2, 1891) was an American businessman, real estate agent and developer. He did a lot to build up Ventura County, California, and was the founder of the towns of Nordhoff, which was later ren ...

was listed on the

1880 census The United States census of 1880 conducted by the Census Bureau during June 1880 was the tenth United States census.Ojai and Bardsdale and for working with Thomas Bard to build the Hueneme wharf. The streets and lots in the unincorporated present day "Old Town" were laid out in September 1887 on both sides of the newly opened "Southern Pacific Branch Line: Saugus to Santa Barbara." An area west of Wells Road for which another map entitled "Town of Saticoy" was filed as a competing subdivision to benefit from the new railroad. Through the 1800s and early 1900s, very little development occurred in West Saticoy but the "Old Town" area flourished as a small center of the region’s citrus, bean and other produce production.Martinez, Arlene (March 4, 2014
"Planners debating the future of Saticoy; public welcome"
''Ventura County Star'' Rail passenger service stopped in 1934. The community of West Saticoy did develop a small community just west of the "School Lot" as shown on the map. Saticoy School was built on the lot in 1900. The school is now called ATLAS Elementary: Academy of Technology and Leadership at Saticoy and is part of 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 ...

. This alternative townsite, on the other side of the Brown Barranca from the railroad station, was located on the main road to San Buenaventura. That distant town, incorporated in 1866, has grown so that all of Saticoy, except for "Old Town," has been annexed into the City of Ventura. Saticoy Depot

There have been many bridges across the Santa Clara River at Saticoy. They were often washed out due to abundant rainfall and flooding. The most notable washout, however, was due to the flood wave of water caused by the collapse of the St. Francis Dam, in northwest

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, which occurred two and a half minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928. The bridge was washed out again in the flood of 1969, and cars were rerouted through the riverbed east of the bridge while it was under repair.

Cabrillo Village

Cabrillo Village was a camp built in the 1930s. A lengthy confrontation in the 1970s ensued when the growers wanted to raze the cramped, rundown homes for development. The confrontation ended in 1976, when 82 farmworker families, advised by

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

advocate Rodney Fernandez, pitched in and bought their deteriorating cottages from the Saticoy Lemon Assn. It was perhaps the first time that U.S. farmworkers had purchased the camp they lived in.""Cabrillo Village"
Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation Website. Accessed 28 October 2013 The first cooperative housing association in Ventura County was formed and the 154 apartments and houses in the village are owned by the cooperative. In 1989 Cabrillo Village was selected as a finalist for the

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

. Eventually new housing tracts were built next to the community and it was annexed into the city of Ventura in 1994. The community is located between the river and the railroad tracks and is about equidistant from "Old Town" and West Saticoy.

Geography

Saticoy is near an apex of this compound alluvial fan formed by the river and Calleguas Creek.Thomas, H. E., and Others (1962
"Effects of Drought Along Pacific Coast in California: 1942-56"
''Geological Survey Professional Paper'', Volume 372-G. United States Department of the Interior The Santa Clara River Valley opens up into the

Oxnard Plain The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpo ...

here as South Mountain on the south shore marks the end of the valley. Located on the fertile north bank of the Santa Clara River the shore of the Santa Barbara Channel is some 8 miles distant. Agriculture in the area includes avocados, lemons, oranges, strawberries, and many other row crops. Along the shore of the Santa Clara River, amidst the agriculture area east and northeast of the town, is the

Saticoy Oil Field The Saticoy Oil Field is an oil and gas field in Ventura County, California, in the United States. The field is a long narrow band paralleling the Santa Clara River near the town of Saticoy. Discovered in 1955, it is one of the smaller but ...

, discovered in 1955 and operated by Vintage Petroleum. The city of Ventura is adjacent to the community on the north and west side. The Census Bureau definition of the area does not precisely correspond to the local understanding of the historical area of the community.

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that Saticoy had a population of 1,029. The population density was . The racial makeup of Saticoy was 413 (40.1%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 9 (0.9%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 29 (2.8%) Native American, 2 (0.2%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 508 (49.4%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 68 (6.6%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 895 persons (87.0%). The Census reported that 1,029 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 262 households, out of which 145 (55.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 130 (49.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 59 (22.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 33 (12.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 22 (8.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 29 households (11.1%) were made up of individuals, and 9 (3.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.93. There were 222 families (84.7% of all households); the average family size was 4.08. The population was spread out, with 331 people (32.2%) under the age of 18, 133 people (12.9%) aged 18 to 24, 297 people (28.9%) aged 25 to 44, 177 people (17.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 91 people (8.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.5 males. There were 278 housing units at an average density of , of which 94 (35.9%) were owner-occupied, and 168 (64.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%. 365 people (35.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 664 people (64.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Disadvantaged unincorporated community

The Ventura County

Local Agency Formation Commission Local Agency Formation Commissions or LAFCOs are regional service planning agencies of the State of California. LAFCOs are located in all 58 counties and exercise regulatory and planning powers in step with their prescribed directive to oversee the ...

(LAFCo) determined in March 2012 that this unincorporated CDP with an estimated 2010 median household income of $34,145 was a "disadvantaged unincorporated community" (DUC) under the state definition of an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income. Under state law, LAFCOs are required to make determinations regarding DUCs and an adjacent city's "Sphere of Influence" (SOI) and possible annexation restrictions of territory.California Senate Bill 244 requires that the complex legal, financial, and political barriers that contribute to regional inequity and infrastructure deficits within disadvantaged unincorporated communities be examined. Including these communities in the long range planning of a city or county, as required by SB 244, will result in a more efficient delivery system of services and infrastructure including but not limited to sewer, water, and structural fire protection. In turn, investment in these services and infrastructure will result in the enhancement and protection of public health and safety for these communities. SOIs demark the territory that represents the appropriate and probable future jurisdictional boundary and service area of the subject city. Old Town Saticoy is within the city of Ventura's SOI and under state law, annexation would be mandatory before any other development areas are annexed. LAFCo determined that annexation at this time is not appropriate as the City would have to subsidize Saticoy to provide services that are incrementally better than the county now provides.City of Ventura (2013
"Feasibility Study Pursuant to Senate Bill 244 for Unincorporated Saticoy"
/ref>

Parks and culture

The Saticoy library's one-room, that had been used since 1973 was torn down in 1991 to make room for a new community center. Four modular units which had been used in Newbury Park were placed on a leased parcel in the residential area of Saticoy by Ventura County Library to create a . The units had reached the end of their useful life in 2014 so a more centrally located, at 1292 Los Angeles Avenue was remodeled into high-tech resource center.

Infrastructure

Transportation

State Route 118 curves through the southerly portion of the townsite although it formerly followed a

zig-zag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

route through the business district. State Route 118 heads northwest as Wells Road to terminate at the Santa Paula Freeway (State Route 126). Los Angeles Avenue is the name given to the highway as it heads east to connect with State Route 232.

Utilities

Water is provided by the City of Ventura. As the community is outside the corporate boundaries of the city, rates are typically about 20% higher than standard charged inside the city. The amount of multi-family, commercial, and industrial development/redevelopment that can occur within the community is limited as city policy limits new water meters to single family homes on existing lots. The Saticoy Sanitation District, an independent special district which serves only the community of Saticoy, provides sanitary sewer service.

Notes

References

External links

Saticoy Springs Indian Village Historical Marker

Saticoy Railroad Depot Historical Marker

Saticoy, California Data, with MapSaticoy Library Website
{{authority control 1861 establishments in California Populated places established in 1861 Census-designated places in Ventura County, California Santa Clara River (California) Census-designated places in California