1843History
Santa Paula is located on the 1843 Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy Mexican land grant.
1852Economy
1852): Brother to Georges Méliès; he set up the American branch of their Star Film Company in Santa Paula, filming many movies in the area.
1862Disaster
=== Floods ===
==== The Great Flood of 1862 ====
The Great Flood of 1862 began on December 24, 1861, when it rained for almost four weeks, reaching a total of 35 inches (890 ...
1872History
In 1872 Nathan Weston Blanchard purchased 2,700 acres (10.9 km2) and laid out the townsite.
1874Economy
Considered the founder of the community, he planted seedling orange trees in 1874.
1880Infrastructure
== Economy ==
While agriculture is the most important industry in Santa Paula today, the city experienced an economic boom after oil was discovered in 1880.
1890Architecture
The Union Oil Company Building, the founding headquarters of the Union Oil Company of California in 1890, now houses the California Oil Museum.
1902Government
Santa Paula was incorporated in April 1902.
1909History
Teague (1909–1974): U.S.
1911Economy
In April 1911, Gaston Méliès moved his Star Film Company from San Antonio, Texas to a site just north of Santa Paula.
1922Education
Students from Santa Paula High School first etched the letters into the hills in December 1922.
1925Military
Eric Fleming: actor, star of Rawhide; born as Edward Heddy, Jr., July 4, 1925.
1928Civil Rights
Francis Dam took place in the middle of the night on March 12, 1928.
1946Sports
1946): former Major League Baseball pitcher and pitching coach; he was a 20-game winner in 1973.
1958History
1958): newscaster, most notably with KABC-TV from 1983 to 2002, KCBS-TV from 2002 to 2011, and KTTV-TV from 2012–Present.
1976Culture
Parts of the Brian De Palma movie Carrie (1976), starring Sissy Spacek, were filmed in Santa Paula.
1983Military
Formed by their leader and songwriter Mauro Posadas in 1983, they won a Latin Grammy Award for best album in 2007.
1984History
Dennis DeYoung, former lead singer of the popular 1970s and 1980s rock group Styx, filmed the music video for Desert Moon, also the title of his first solo album, at the train d...
1985History
Dana Elcar: actor, played Pete Thornton in the MacGyver television series from 1985 to 1992 and was featured in many films including The Sting; spent later years at his home on ...
1989Crime
Parts of the movie Disorganized Crime (1989), starring Fred Gwynne, was filmed downtown on Main Street.
1990History
Main Street and other locations featured prominently in the 1990 Winona Ryder film Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael.
1992History
Chaplin (1992) filmed throughout the surrounding area and held a casting call in town for background actors.
1994Disaster
After a 1994 fire destroyed their sets in nearby Fillmore, the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles filmed in various locations, including Santa Paula's Ebell Mansion.
1996History
1996): soccer player
Charles M.
1997History
When the project was first proposed in 1997, concerns were raised that Limoneira was beginning to develop their extensive holdings of prime farmland.
2001Infrastructure
A good portion of Joe Dirt (2001) starring David Spade was filmed downtown as well as at the popular restaurant Mary B's.
2005Government
In early 2005, Santa Paula Mayor Mary Ann Krause began a lobbying campaign to have Santa Paula declared Vinick's hometown.
2007History
Woodcock (2007), starring Billy Bob Thornton.
2010Education
Sebastian School (K-8)
Westside Baptist Preschool
== Infrastructure ==
The Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility was built in 2010 for $63 million to treat the city sewage.
2013Education
In 2013, the two bodies were merged to form the Santa Paula Unified School District.
2014Economy
=== Santa Clara Waste Water plant industrial disaster ===
A vacuum truck exploded at the Santa Clara Waste Water plant in the early morning hours of November 18, 2014.
2015Civil Rights
A former county district attorney, retained by a company attorney, issued a report in March 2015 that provided an explanation of events indicating that the worker may have accid...
2016Architecture
A major expansion began in 2016 when construction started on a 500-acre (200 ha) master-planned community of 1,500 homes.
2017Disaster
=== Wildfires ===
==== Thomas Fire ====
In December 2017, the Thomas Fire broke out nearby.
2018Infrastructure
It was finally confirmed to be fully contained in January 2018, and a reported 281,893 acres (440 sq mi; 114,078 ha) had burned.
2019Disaster
==== Maria Fire ====
On October 31, 2019, the Maria Fire was reported burning at the top of South Mountain between Santa Paula and Somis and expanded throughout that evening.
2020History
were shot on Main Street in October 2020 and February 2021.
2023History
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $77,130, and the per capita income was $30,453.