Somis, California

Somis is an unincorporated community of Ventura County, California that was established in 1892 by Thomas Bard and D.T. Perkins on a portion of the Mexican land grant, Rancho Las Posas. Somis is in the Las Posas Valley on the south bank of Fox Barranca, just west of Arroyo Las Posas. The name of this townsite may have been derived from “water of the scrub oak,” a Chumash placename referring to the presence of water. There was a Ranchería named Somes noted in records from 1795 and 1796.HistoryLike many of the farms on the adjacent Oxnard Plain, the crops of corn, wheat and barley grown here were shipped through the wharf that had been constructed in Hueneme in 1871. Agricultural products were able to be shipped by rail when the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco was routed through the valley and a stop was established adjacent to the community. The current spelling of the name was established when the railroad came through.GeographyThe school provides a sense of community for the town and the surrounding rural agricultural area that lies within the Somis Union School District boundary. Several structures have been designated County of Ventura Landmarks. The Camarillo station is the nearest stop for Amtrak and Metrolink trains and is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and Metrolink's Ventura County Line from Los Angeles Union Station to east Ventura.