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Somis, California
Unincorporated community Census-designated place
Fulkerson Hardware has a long history of serving this agricultural community.
Somis, CaliforniaLocation within the state of CaliforniaShow map of CaliforniaSomis, CaliforniaSomis, California (the United States)Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 34°15′55″N 118°59′54″W / 34.265263°N 118.998406°W / 34.265263; -118.998406
Country	United States
State	California
County	Ventura
Established	1892
Area
• Total	3.353 sq mi (8.68 km)
• Land	3.353 sq mi (8.68 km)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km)
Elevation	345 ft (105 m)
Population
• Total	1,429
• Density	430/sq mi (160/km)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	93066
Area code	805
GNIS feature IDs	2807036 1670906

Somis (/ˈsoʊmɪs/ ; Chumash: Śo Mís) is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California. It was established in 1892 by Thomas Bard and D.T. Perkins on a portion of the Rancho Las Posas Mexican land grant. Somis is in the Las Posas Valley on the south bank of Fox Barranca, just west of Arroyo Las Posas. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Somis as a census-designated place (CDP).

Toponomy

The name of this townsite is derived from the Chumash term śo mís, meaning 'water of the scrub oak.' There was a Ranchería named Somes noted in records from 1795 and 1796. Somes was located in the vicinity of present-day Lake Casitas, prior to the dam being built.

History

Like 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 in 1899.

Geography

The Census Bureau definition of the area does not precisely correspond to the local understanding of the historical area of the community. Several structures have been designated County of Ventura Landmarks.

Shown as Central Avenue on the original plat filed by Bard, Somis Road runs in a north-south direction through the middle of the townsite as its main thoroughfare. The parallel roads on either side are named West Street and East Street. Three streets are oriented in an east-west direction. The most northerly, named North Street, was extended northwesterly with plats filed in 1948 and 1953 that subdivided additional town lots. No further subdivision of town lots has occurred after this post-World War II expansion of the townsite to 96 acres (39 ha).

It is primarily an agricultural area, but is home to a hardware store, a market with a Mexican cafe, a post office, an elementary school, several shops, a small animal hospital, one main residential tract and numerous estates and ranches. It has no formal local government, but it is serviced by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Ventura County Fire Department.

The Somis ZIP Code, 93066, includes a large area of surrounding agricultural lands bounded on the south by the edge of housing tracts in Camarillo and on the north by the ridge line of South Mountain, 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Los Angeles Avenue. The ZIP Code encompasses an area some 11 miles (18 km) in width in the east-west direction. Forbes Magazine ranked Somis the 108th most-expensive ZIP code in the United States in 2015. Somis had the highest median home prices in Ventura County in 1999.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Somis has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Education

Somis Union School District and the Oxnard Union High School District include the census-designated place.

The Somis Union School District operates Somis Elementary School.

Infrastructure

Somis Road (SR 34), the main thoroughfare, is lined with a few shops, businesses and a county fire station and intersects State Route 118 (Los Angeles Avenue) just north of town after crossing Fox Barranca. The railroad, which is parallel with Los Angeles Avenue between Somis and Moorpark, turns and becomes parallel with Somis Road at the south end of town where they located the railroad stop for shipping agricultural products. The tracks continue south to the Camarillo Station and the intersection with US 101. Somis Road becomes Lewis Road a little over 1 mile (1.6 km) south of town at the northern boundary of the City of Camarillo which is also generally the southerly boundary of Rancho Las Posas.

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.

Demographics

Somis first appeared as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. Census.

References

1. Omestad, Thomas (August 31, 1986) "A Store of History in Somis : Hardware Stock Includes Common Nails, Common Sense" Los Angeles Times
2. Sampson, Talia (August 25, 2008) "Hardware store stays in the family: Landmark in Somis has passed from father to son" Ventura County Star
3. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files - California". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
4. ^ "Somis Census Designated Place". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
5. "US Census Bureau". www.census.gov. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
6. "Somis (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
7. ^ Applegate, Richard B. (1974). "Chumash Placenames" Journal of California Anthropology. The, 1(2).
8. ^ McClellan, Doug (October 11, 1992). "Centennial of Somis Is Small Affair : Communities: A walking tour and back-yard party mark today's celebration. The 400 residents call their town an oasis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
9. ^ "SUBSEQUENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR FOCUSED GENERAL PLAN UPDATE and Related Amendments to the Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance and Zone Change ZN05-0008" Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine County of Ventura (June 22, 2005)
10. "Fox Barranca". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
11. "Arroyo Las Posas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
12. ^ Gudde, Erwin G. (1969). California place names : the origin and etymology of current geographical names (3rd ed., rev. and enl. ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 316.
13. Brown, Alan K. (January 1967). The Aboriginal Population of the Santa Barbara Channel (Map 1, Page 19) (PDF) (Report). University of California Archaeological Research Facility. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2023.
14. Cultural Heritage Board. "Ventura County Landmark Map" Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine County of Ventura Planning Division Accessed 2 November 2013
15. Payne, Paul (July 16, 1991) "3 Somis Site to Be Labeled Landmarks" Los Angeles Times
16. Somis Ranch Farmworker Housing Complex | Draft Environmental Impact Report (PDF) (Report). Ventura County Resources Management Agency. September 2020.
17. "Map of the Town of Somis in Rancho Los Posas." 3 MR 33. Ventura County Recorder Retrieved October 22, 2013 from CountyView GIS
18. "BARD-HOLBERT SUBDIVISION NO. 1." 15 MR 67. Ventura County Recorder Retrieved November 2, 2013 from CountyView GIS.
19. "BARD-HOLBERT SUBDIVISION NO. 2." 21 MR 74. Ventura County Recorder Retrieved November 2, 2013 from CountyView GIS.
20. McDonald, Jeff (April 29, 1996). "Quiet Somis Seeking Bigger Voice in County Decisions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
21. "South Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
22. "Full List: America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes 2015". Forbes.
23. McCormack, Don (1999). McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000. Mccormacks Guides. Page 106. ISBN 9781929365098.
24. "Somis, California Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.
25. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Ventura County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 1 (PDF p. 2/3). Retrieved October 18, 2024. - Text list
26. "Somis Elementary School". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
27. "Ventura County Fire Protection District Station 57 Somis". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
28. "2020 Geography Changes". United States Census Bureau.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Ventura County, California, United States
County seat: Ventura
Cities	Camarillo Fillmore Moorpark Ojai Oxnard Port Hueneme Santa Paula Simi Valley Thousand Oaks Ventura
CDPs	Bell Canyon Casa Conejo Channel Islands Beach El Rio Lake Sherwood Meiners Oaks Mira Monte Oak Park Oak View Piru Santa Rosa Valley Santa Susana Saticoy Somis
Unincorporated communities	Bardsdale Buckhorn Camp Bartlett Camp Scheideck Casitas Springs Dulah Faria La Conchita Limoneira Lockwood Valley Mussel Shoals Newbury Park Ojala Ortonville Point Mugu Sea Cliff Silver Strand Beach Solromar Upper Ojai Wheeler Springs
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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Counties	Los Angeles Orange Riverside San Bernardino Ventura
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CDPs over 25k	Altadena East Los Angeles Florence-Graham French Valley Hacienda Heights Ladera Ranch North Tustin Rowland Heights South Whittier Temescal Valley West Whittier-Los Nietos Westmont
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Landforms	Baldwin Hills (range) Channel Islands Chino Hills Hollywood Hills Los Angeles Basin Oxnard Plain Palos Verdes Hills Puente Hills San Fernando Valley San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Valley San Jacinto Mountains Santa Ana Mountains Santa Catalina Island Santa Monica Mountains Santa Susana Mountains Sierra Pelona Ridge Simi Hills Verdugo Mountains
Bodies of water	Aliso Creek Arroyo Calabasas Arroyo Seco Ballona Creek Bell Creek Big Bear Lake Coyote Creek Lake Arrowhead Lake Gregory Lake Perris Lake Piru Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles River Malibu Creek Mojave River Pacific Ocean Pyramid Lake Rio Hondo San Gabriel River San Juan Creek San Pedro Bay Santa Ana River Santa Clara River Santa Margarita River Santa Monica Bay Tujunga Wash

• Unincorporated communities in Ventura County, California
• Populated places established in 1892
• Unincorporated communities in California