Ventura County Landmark No. 39: Mill Park

Mill Park was the original site of the Blanchard & Bradley flour mill. It was constructed in 1871 and was the only such facility between San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles. To operate it, a ditch originating up the canyon carried water from the Santa Paula Creek to a point above the mill and was dropped down an open flume onto the rotating water wheel. The mill’s finest grade of flour was called “Middlings Purified” and a sample shipped to the nation’s Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was awarded a gold medal.