E. P. Foster and Orpha Woods Foster Were Among the Early Settlers in the Conejo Valley

Eugene Preston and Orpha Woods Foster Family in 1890.

This is the Eugene Preston and Orpha Woods Foster family in 1890. This family has quite a history in Ventura County.

Eugene (E.P.) built a home in the Conejo Valley in 1874, where he operated a sheep business. Most of the 10,000 sheep perished in the terrible drought of 1876-1877. E.P. sold what remained of his business and moved to Ventura in 1877 (the same year that Egbert Starr Newbury and family moved back to the midwest...where Newbury passed away in 1880 at age 36).

Before the drought, in 1875, the Fosters became the parents of the first child of settlers born in the Conejo Valley. That daughter, the eldest of 10, only four of which survived childhood, was Orpha W. "Pearl" Foster. Pearl became president of Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura for over 25 years. She passed away at age 97 in 1973.

After his successes and struggles in the Conejo Valley, E.P. Foster became a highly successful entrepreneur and investor in Ventura, where he helped to establish the city's first electric light plant, developed natural gas wells and invested in the Bank of Ventura (now Bank of America) and the Union Oil Company. His philanthropic efforts led to the creation of Camp Comfort (the county's first park), Foster Park and the 91 acre Seaside Park, where the Ventura County Fair operates.

Additionally, the E.P. Foster Library on Main Street in Ventura is named after him; he and his wife donated funds for the original public library and city hall. The Fosters also donated funds and land to build what is now Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.

But no, the Foster's Freeze in Ventura is not associated with E.P. Foster. :)

The E.P. Foster Library is part of the Ventura County Library system The cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark and Camarillo operate their own, independent library systems.