[3] Pitas Point and nearby Punta Gorda were created by large uplift events.

Scientists have made observations of old sections of shoreline along the coastal terrace and found that exceptionally large earthquakes had occurred on the Ventura-Pitas Point faults due to the simultaneous rupturing of the interlinked faults.

[4] In 1769, the Spanish Portola expedition came northwest along the beach from the previous night's encampment on the Ventura River.

The explorers found a small native village near a watering place at what is now called "Padre Juan Canyon" (which reaches the sea at Pitas Point) and camped nearby on August 15.

[6] Beach access at one of the beachfront homes was the subject of the 1987 US Supreme Court case Nollan v. California Coastal Commission.