When the Southern Pacific Railroad elected to lay track for its new line through Oxnard, it bypassed the town, however, leading to the birth of the town of Camarillo where the depot was built. Nearby Somis, est. in 1892 with a thriving stockyard, continues to thrive, maintaining its rural atmosphere even today.

In 1892, Frederick Hastings Rindge and his wife, Rhoda “May” Knight Rindge, bought the 13,000-acre Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit(known as “The Malibu Ranch”). The Rindges were the fourth – and last – private owners of this intact (i.e., non-subdivided) Spanish land grant. Eventually, the Rindges expanded their Malibu Ranch to about 17,000 acres (which included about 25 miles of coastline) by buying up the holdings of nearby homesteaders.

In 1915, their daughter, Rhoda Agatha Rindge, married Merritt Huntley Adamson (who had been the foreman of the Malibu Ranch). In 1916, the Adamsons began their Adohr Milk Farms, Inc. (“Adohr” is “Rhoda” spelled backwards) with the 500-acre Adohr Stock Farms in Tarzana in Los Angeles County. Adohr became famous for having one of the largest herds of Guernsey cattle in the world.

In 1942, the Adamsons began moving their operations to Camarillo (eventually selling the Tarzana stock farm land in 1948). The Camarillo dairy was established at what is today’s intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Pancho Road. Merritt Huntley Adamson died in 1949, and Rhoda Agatha Rindge Adamson died in 1962. In November 1965, Adohr Milk Farms, Inc., was sold to Southland Corporation.

The 20th Century brought growth to the Pleasant Valley. Plans for St. John's Seminary began in 1927 when Don Juan Camarillo (1867-1936) donated 100 acres of land on an expansive terrace of the Ranchos Calleguas and Los Posas. The site is surrounded by citrus and avocado groves overlooking a wide panorama of fertile coastal plains. Ground was broken and construction began in 1939. The site includes a monastic-style chapel, dormitories for 180 students and the 45,000 volume Edward Laurence and Carrie E. Doheny Memorial Libraries. There is also a Grotto, modeled after one for Our Lady of Lourdes where an apparition appeared to Saint Bernadette in the cave of Massabielle, France in 1858. The College is now devoted to graduate level theological education granting a Masters of Arts degree.

Camarillo State Hospital began in 1932 on 1,760 acres south of town. The hospital pioneered research and treatment for schizophrenia and autism and had several famous residents, including jazzman Charlie Parker who wrote "Relaxin' at Camarillo" while there [1], and see short video. The hospital brought many jobs to the area until it closed in 1997. In 2002, the site became home to California State University Channel Islands which retained the distinctive Mission Revival Style architecture and the bell tower in the South quad was adopted as the symbol of the university.