Mission San Buenaventura is located 70 miles north of Los Angeles, and 25 miles south of Santa Barbara. This Mission was founded by Junipero Serra on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1782. Originally planned to be the third Mission of the California chain, San Buenaventura's founding was postponed for 12 years.

The church is 154 feet long, 40 feet wide; made of adobe bricks and stone walls are 6.5 feet thick and Bell tower is a single tall tower with five bells. The Mission is names for Saint Bonaventure.

San Buenaventura was surrounded by orchards, vineyards, grainfields; Known for the abundance of fruits and vegetables produced, including tropical fruits such as bananas. Pears were a specialty. Fields extended from the hills to the edge of the ocean.

In 1812, the church was damaged by an earthquake, and the bell tower collapsed. The church was reconstructed with stone buttress for support and a double wall on the bell tower.

A reservoir and aqueduct system brought water from the Ventura River to the Mission buildings and fields. One of the clay pipe aqueduct was seven miles long. Buenaventura was sometimes called "the place of canals". The reservoir was called "caballo"(Spanish for "horse") because the water came from a mouth of a stone horse-head.

Today, the Mission is still standing, firmer than before, and less being destroyed. Now, San Buenaventura's museum exhibits the work of the Chumash people, who were noted for their excellence in boat building and wood carving. They also made exceptionally fine baskets that held water.