City Seal of Ventura, California

Ventura, formally known as San Buenaventura (Spanish for "St. Bonaventure"), is a city on the Central Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. Ventura is a popular tourist destination, owing to its historic landmarks, beaches, and resorts. Ventura was founded by the Spanish in 1782, when Saint Junípero Serra established Mission San Buenaventura. Following the Mexican secularization of the Californian missions, San Buenaventura was granted by Governor Pío Pico to Don José de Arnaz as Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura and a small community arose. Following the American Conquest of California, San Buenaventura eventually incorporated as a city in 1866. The 1920s brought a major oil boom, which along with the post–World War II economic expansion, significantly developed and expanded Ventura.