The closest town is Fillmore, which is on the north side of the Santa Clara about 3 miles (5 km) from Bardsdale.

Santa Paula is about 7 miles (11 km) west, the most direct route being South Mountain Road.

The Bardsdale area has long been a center of citrus ranching, having a large number of verdant orange orchards with home sites interspersed among them.

The community is home to the Bardsdale United Methodist Church, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bardsdale was established in 1887 by real estate developer Royce G. Surdam (1835–1891) on 1,500 acres (6 km2) of the old Rancho Sespe grant that he purchased from his business associate Thomas R. Bard,[4] in whose honor he named the town.

[5][6] At about the same time that the town was laid out by Surdam, the Southern Pacific Railroad ran tracks through the valley, between Newhall and Ventura, on the north side of the Santa Clara River.

[12] Surdam would ride over the Santa Clara River on horseback and pick up the mail bag at the station, then return to the post office in Bardsdale.

A lot was donated for one on the east side of Ventura Street, between Pasadena and Bardsdale Avenues, but there were no funds to build it.

Goodenough was awarded the "contract to build the Bardsdale Schoolhouse according to the plans and specifications, all complete, and he to furnish all material and do or cause to be done all work in a good and workman like manner for $1,397, excepting outhouses."

By 1891, a number of nice houses had been built in Bardsdale, surrounded with thriving trees and shrubs, and all was supplied with a good system of water works.

[15] An article about Ventura County in the Los Angeles Times of September 5, 1891, reads: "A few miles Farther west, Fillmore and Bardsdale, friendly rivals, greet each other from opposite slopes of the Santa Clara Valley.

From the former large quantities of brown stone are being constantly shipped to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

An article about Ventura County in the Los Angeles Herald of September 26, 1897, reads: "On Friday last Frank Byers of Bardsdale was thrown from a wagon and instantly killed on the main street of that town.

"[18] In 1898, the Methodists had a new Carpenter Gothic church and parsonage built at the southeast corner of Bardsdale Avenue and Ventura Street, near Robertson's Store, on two lots donated by Thomas Bard.

When the 1900 census was enumerated, Bardsdale was included in Santa Paula Township, which extended to the east past Piru and Rancho Camulos.

Another bridge was built across the Santa Clara and an article in the Los Angeles Times of March 23, 1915, reads: "With the completion of the new Bardsdale bridge, taking the place of one washed out a year ago, a new highway beautiful will be added to the county's road system.

The County Forester has outlined plans for the planting of palms on both sides of the road from Bardsdale to the bridge, joining another palm-shaded highway.

Citizens of Bardsdale and vicinity have co-operated in the work of grading and improving the highway, and all brush and weeds have been cleared from the sides.

The second Bardsdale Bridge was washed out in the early morning of March 13, 1928, when the St. Francis Dam, in northern Los Angeles County, collapsed and a flood wave of water went rushing down the Santa Clara River Valley to the Pacific Ocean at Ventura.

Unlike many of the affected areas, the town had received sufficient warning and most all who were in danger were able to move to safety.

The nearby 18-hole Elkins Ranch Golf Course, where Bellevue Avenue veers north and becomes Chambersburg Road (Highway 23), was opened for public play in 1962.