By Gail Field
You probably already know the street named San Jon, but if you needed a map or any other information about Ventura, you could very well find it in the Research Library of the Museum of Ventura County.
Charles Johnson, the library director since 1989, makes the case for the library’s uniqueness. “With over 150,000 resources, our mission is to serve the public—to help them with whatever information they need. There is no place that has more resources about Ventura County than this library. We house over 300 linear feet of manuscripts, 50,000 positive photographs and twice that many negatives. We have 10,000 maps, 5,000 books, and over 700 architectural plans and drawings. We have an extensive ephemeral collection including such items as war bond booklets and gas ration coupons from the 1940s. In addition, our library volunteers have clipped and saved newspaper articles every day since 1977, when the library opened.”
This year the City of Ventura celebrates its 150th anniversary on April 2. The Research Library is working with the Museum Collections Department, preparing an exhibit entitled “Ventura @ 150: Celebrating the City of Good Fortune,” which will open on April 1 at the Museum and will include photographs, early documents and artifacts.
Johnson has seen many requests come to the library from local citizens, corporations, attorneys, land managers, and more. “We’ve had such a variety of inquiries—companies wanting information on agriculture, architects requesting plans for renovation projects, land use experts looking to see where the adobes were built and where the walls underneath those adobes still lay buried. Cal Trans recently contacted us about the possible impact of planned highway construction at the California Street off ramp on any important cultural resources. California fourth graders come to our library for their California mission projects. We’ve been able to give them what they need.”
If you have traveled on San Jon Road, you’ve probably noticed that the spelling of San Jon varies from map to street sign, and wondered, where did the name come from? The museum houses information on street names as well. No one is quite sure about the exact origins of this particular street name, but the Research Library copy of the Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly (winter 1972) devoted to Ventura County place names explains that the term comes from the Spanish word, “zanja, zanjon, or sanjon” meaning “ditch or channel.” The road follows the path of the Sanjon Barranca, which was exactly that—a “big ditch,” that often flooded during rainy seasons.
You already know the way to San Jon, and with the help of the Research Library, you can find a vast resource of even more fascinating facts on our own Ventura County.
The Research Library is housed in the Museum at 100 E. Main St. Phone: 653-0323, ext. 320 or [email protected]
