After a $2.5 million renovation by the Ventura County Transportation Commission, The Mill warehouse, left, will be offi cially transformed into the Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum with a public opening on Sept. 25. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Ventura County.
Opens to the public at 11 a.m. Sept. 25 at The Mill in Santa Paula. Museum features bilingual exhibits
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805.com
From sugar beets and lima beans to lemon orchards and strawberries, Ventura County residents have witnessed a varied agricultural landscape over the years.
Even the faces of those who work the farms and ranches have changed — from Chinese, Filipino and Japanese immigrants during the turn of the 20th century, to Depression-era workers from Oklahoma and the rest of the Dust Bowl region, to the braceros from Mexico in the 1940s, to the present-day Mixteco immigrant farmworkers from the Oaxaca region of Mexico.
As the crops and people changed, so did the technology, from horse- and mule-hauled wagons to modern farm tractors.
805 region residents and area visitors will get to view many of these changes up close with the opening of the Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Santa Paula.
Situated in The Mill, the old red wooden warehouse located at Railroad Plaza Park between the Santa Paula Train Depot on 10th street and the Farmworkers Monument dedicated in August 2010 on 9th street, the Agriculture Museum will allow visitors to look inside a working beehive, learn how food is grown in the region and let children climb onboard a vintage tractor.
Admission will be free during the opening day event, with docent-led tours and live music by the Lynn Mullins Pickup Band, according to museum officials.
The $2.5 million renovation project was launched in October 2008. The building is owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission, which is leasing the site back to the museum. In an interview with the Ventura County Star, Museum of Ventura County Executive Director Tim Schiffer said the museum has spent more than $300,000 renovating the 1880s-era warehouse, reinforcing the floor posts, and installing lighting, phones and an alarm system.
The building — which was first used by area farmers as a central collection point for shipping on trains, with more recent uses as a feed store and gift shop — also has been repainted and re-roofed.
“Having a museum that’s dedicated to telling the story of that industry is really important if the general public is to have full appreciation and understanding of the role agriculture has played and continues to play here,” John Krist, chief executive officer of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, stated in that same Ventura County Star article.
Exhibits at the Museum of Ventura County's Agriculture Museum include photographs such as this image, right, of lima bean farming at Maulhardt Ranch in Oxnard. Photo courtesy of MVC Research Library.
According to a media release by the museum, the new Agriculture Museum will offer the following exhibits to the public:
- “Insects: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” features the museum’s own working beehive and macro close-up photographs of bees, taken with a scanning electron microscope by artist and photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher. Visitors can examine bugs with an “Eye Clops” microscope, and learn about insects such as the tiny but fierce Asian Citrus Psyllid, which poses a serious threat to the citrus industry.
- Eight vintage tractors, dating from 1914 to 1955, are found throughout the building, including one upon which children can sit. The machines are part of a rotating display of the museum’s nationally recognized collection of farm implements.
- Permanent exhibits using rare historical photographs and interactive elements, tell the story of Ventura County’s farming and ranching tradition. Starting with Mission times, visitors can trace the county’s evolution into one of the nation’s most productive growing regions, and learn what innovations are in store for an industry that presently employs more than 30,000 county residents.
Following the opening ceremony, the Agriculture Museum, at 926 Railroad Ave., will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, $1 for children ages 6 to 17 and free to children under 6 years of age.
Membership in the Museum of Ventura County includes free admission to both their Agriculture Museum and the Museum of Ventura County’s primary location at 100 E. Main St., Ventura. For more information, visit www.venturamuseum.org