[5][6] When the plans were unveiled in 1911, the Los Angeles Times reported that the "Roman Doric order" design would be "one of the most imposing public structures in California, and a credit to the seat of government of the prosperous lima bean section.

In 1926, the Ventura Star wrote: "She stands majestically upon the hill, this courthouse of ours, with her national colors fluttering in the harbor breezes, for all the world like a beautiful woman in a Paris gown.

Perched like a lordly, lavish manor at the juncture of California and Poli streets, it overlooks the old town and the blue Pacific beyond – a constant reminder of the past.

The land, donated by Bishop Thaddeus Amat, was carved out of the gardens at the Mission San Buenaventura at a location between Santa Clara, Meta (now Thompson), Figueroa, and Junipero Streets.

[15][16][17] A 2007 archaeological dig uncovered a portion of the mission era wall foundation built with 40 to 50 pound stones as expected from historical surveys and maps.

The dig found artifacts from many periods besides the first courthouse, jail, and first hospital including signs of the long history of human settlement such as beads made of shells by Native Americans harvested from the nearby ocean.

[22] The festivities began on the first day with a lengthy parade featuring seven bands, four companies of seamen and marines from the USS South Dakota anchored at Ventura, decorated automobiles, and floats from every chamber of commerce and lodge in the county, including one built in the shape of a giant lima bean pod (then the county's biggest cash crop) and another bearing a local girl dressed as the "Goddess of Liberty".

[22][3] On the second day, Adolfo Camarillo, chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, formally turned over the building, and a ball was held that evening under electric lights at the new courthouse.

Gardner maintained an office one block south of the courthouse from which he practiced law and also wrote the Perry Mason novels.

[25] The annex was designed to mirror the architecture of the main courthouse with a terra cotta facade, copper roof, and bronze door.

[28] In 1958, the main courtroom at the Ventura Courthouse was the site of the nationally publicized murder trial of Elizabeth Ann Duncan.

The daughter-in-law was six-and-a-half months pregnant and was beaten with a wrench, pistol-whipped, strangled and dumped in a shallow grave off Casitas Pass Road.

The need for a larger government center prompted the County in the early 1960s to acquire 81.7 acres (33.1 ha) in east Ventura at the northeast corner of Victoria Avenue and Telephone Road.

[30][31] The relocation of county government offices to east Ventura was accelerated by concerns about the seismic stability of the downtown courthouse.

After a small earthquake in 1968, judges refused to hold court in the main courtroom, expressing concern that the stained-glass dome might crash down on them.

[40] The city has continued to incur substantial expense to maintain and replace the building's signature, glazed terra cotta tiles.

In 1986, the City set aside $1 million for work on the structure, most of that being required to replace 547 damaged tiles on the building's western annex.

[45] In 2001, the City had a projected $6 million cost to replace additional terra cotta panels that were found to be peeling from trapped moisture.