A Window Into History
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

Jeffrey Maulhardt's newest historical book, "Camarillo," breathes life into the past of the once sleepy farming valley that is now home to one of Ventura County's fastest growing cities.

With the book's 200 black and white photos-many of which have never been seen before in print-Maulhardt has captured a rare glimpse of the lives of the families who built Camarillo and helped shape Pleasant Valley into what it is today.

Maulhardt's eighth book, "Camarillo" was released earlier this week by Arcadia Publishing, a South Carolina publishing house that specializes in regional books on the history of communities throughout the United States.

The book reaches back into the mid 19th century with photographs to tell the story of how a small patch of government-owned land nestled among five enormous ranches became the city of Camarillo.

"Jeff's work is probably some of the most comprehensive history that's been done in Ventura County in a long time,"said Eric Daily, a friend of Maulhardt's who contributed photos of his family to the book.

"Camarillo does not have a lot of photos documenting the early, early times, so (Jeff has) come across a lot of neat photos that will be significant to a lot of people," Daily said.

A history teacher for the last 20 years with the Oxnard School District, Maulhardt said he began to really started collecting historical photos from Ventura County in 1994 when he set out to write and self-publish his first book, "The Day the New York Giants Came to Oxnard."

"I wanted to make history come alive for the students I was teaching," Maulhardt said.

Maulhardt, a fifth generation Ventura County resident and a member of the Borchard family, said he turned to his uncle, Richard Maulhardt, when he began collecting information on Oxnard for his first book. He said his uncle gave him 10 pages of notes. Those notes have now spawned eight books.

Maulhardt said he tried to write the book's nine chapters in a loose chronological order to show the development of particular Pleasant Valley areas, and how they came together to form a city.

Although much of the 128page book is composed of photographs, the captions are a treasure trove of historical details that Maulhardt said came from multiple sources, including numerous newspaper clippings from the area's long-gone publications and interviews with longtime Camarillo residents.

In one caption, Maulhardt describes John Arneill's 365-acre farm: "He named his property 'Raemere' in tribute to his wife, Elizabeth (Rae) Arneill," wrote Maulhardt. "Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Arneill came to the Pleasant Valley in 1888. He died in 1894, when his horse bolted and the wagon ran over him. His brother and his son, John II, took over the ranching duties."

Another rare photograph, taken in the late 1890s, shows St. Mary Magdalen Chapel, its bell tower half finished. The chapel is surrounded by nothing but farmland. Its original caption reads, "$100,000 Catholic Church of Camarillo (sic)."

The book also offers relatively unknown facts about Camarillo, such as the story of Springville. Located just south of the 101 Freeway near Central Avenue, Springville was the center of Pleasant Valley for nearly 30 years in the late 1800s, with a strip of shops clustered along an unpaved road.

The town melted away when Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks a few miles away, near what is now the intersection of Lewis Road and Ventura Boulevard.

The new rail line prompted Springville's few businesses to move closer to the train depot and open up shop along Ventura Boulevard, forming what is now known as Old Town Camarillo.

Many of the families mentioned in the book are well known to those familiar with Camarillo's history. Of course, there are photos of the Camarillo family, for which the city is named, but the book also provides pictures of the Daily, Lewis, Borchard, Flynn and Hughes families and others who helped develop the area.

A graduate of Hueneme High School, Maulhardt began writing "Camarillo," his fourth book for Arcadia, last year, soon after he finishing "Port Hueneme," his third book in Arcadia's Images of America series.

"Camarillo," completed in March, includes up-to-date information on the ongoing construction of the John Spoor Broome Digital Teaching Library at California State University at Channel Islands.

Maulhardt said researching his two Oxnard books led him to write about Camarillo.

"In doing my Oxnard book, I found out that a lot of the families that started out in Oxnard expanded out to the other growing communities," he said.

Maulhardt said that although he could make a little more money by self publishing his work, the partnership with Arcadia meant he didn't have to worry about promotion or sales after completing a book.

"Once I finished the book, I felt like I could coast," he said.

N o t only is Maulhardt an author and fulltime teacher, he also owns a local insurance agency. He said effective time management allows him to wear many hats and helps ensure he completes his books on deadline.

Many of his book's unique photos, Maulhardt said, come from his own family. Others are given to him by the hundreds of people he meets who want to add their own stories and pictures to his ever-growing collection.

"What I like best about it is that I get the follow-up e-mails and phone calls from people who really enjoy the book because they recognize a building or person . . . and then they have something else that they want to share," Maulhardt said.

Maulhardt will sign his book at the Las Posas Emporium at 528 N. Las Posas Road from noon to 2 p.m. on Sat., Aug 12.

Maulhardt lives in Camarillo with his wife, Deborah, and their 20-year-old twin daughters, Alison and Brooke.