William Dewey Hobson

William Dewey Hobson

Father of Ventura County 

You are standing in Cemetery Memorial Park, once Ventura’s first burial ground and the edge of town. In the late 1800s, beyond this spot stretched orchards, open land, and the hills that would one day become Hobson Heights. Beneath your feet lies William Dewey Hobson (1829–1915), remembered as the Father of Ventura County.

Hobson came west as a young man and quickly became a central figure in the region’s growth. In 1871, he was chosen by his neighbors to travel to Sacramento, where he successfully lobbied for Ventura to separate from Santa Barbara County. Two years later, Ventura County was born, and Hobson’s vision and persistence helped make it possible.

He was not just a politician but a builder. Hobson financed and constructed some of Ventura’s earliest landmarks, including the first county courthouse that opened in 1875 and several downtown buildings. He also owned ranchland and businesses, anchoring himself as one of the town’s most important early leaders. When Hobson was laid to rest here in 1915, Ventura was no longer a small settlement — it was a growing city, in large part because of his efforts.

This cemetery itself tells a story. In Hobson’s day, it was filled with marble and sandstone headstones marking the graves of pioneers and veterans. Civil War soldiers were buried here, including Union General William Vandever and dozens of local men who wore the blue and gray. Later, the Medal of Honor recipient James Sumner was interred here as well. By the mid-20th century, however, burials stopped, and in the 1960s most of the markers were removed, leaving only a few stones, like Hobson’s, to remind us of those resting beneath the grass.

Hobson’s influence lived on through his son, Abram Lincoln Hobson, who in 1923 developed the hillside neighborhood just beyond this park. Known as Hobson Heights, it became Ventura’s premier neighborhood — a place of Spanish Revival homes, winding streets, and sweeping views of the Pacific. What was once the farmland at the town’s edge became a neighborhood that still carries the Hobson name with pride.

So as you stand here today, remember: this was once the border of Ventura, and William Dewey Hobson stood at its heart. He shaped a county, built a city, and left a legacy that rises just over the hill in Hobson Heights.