Check Out Jeffrey Maulhardt’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Maulhardt.

Hi Jeffrey, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The Oxnard Historic Farm Park is a one acre original farm site with two of the first and oldest structures on the Oxnard Plain. The Maulhardt Residence/Winery is a two story brick building constructed by Gottfried Maulhardt in 1869, shortly after he arrived in California from Germany. By 1870, his brother Jacob Maulhardt and family joined him and the two built the 1 1/2 story farmhouse. By 2002 the last 50 acres of the original farmland was sold to developer John Laing Homes. At this time, fifth generation descendant of the Maulhardt family, Jeffrey, worked out a plan to save the acre of land surrounding the original buildings and form a non profit to raise money to develop the site and restore the old buildings. The Oxnard Historic Farm Park Foundation has raised the money to purchase the land from the city of Oxnard and create a farm setting with antique tractors, implements, artifacts and a gathering area used for fundraising events. We also raises samples of crops from the past including sugar beets, lima beans, corn and barley. The site has two historic designations: Ventura County Landmark #165 – The Gottfried Maulhardt/Albert Pfeiler Farm Site; and more recently assigned to the National Register of Historic Places as The Gottfried Maulhardt Farm. The two rooms of the residence/winery has been upgraded recently and by August 2025, the farmhouse will have a new foundation and ready for further improvements.

In addition to many farm artifacts, the site also offers local history books written by the director of the Farm Park, Jeffrey Maulhardt. The site also offers 2lb bags of locally grown dry lima beans.

The Farm Park offers 3 local events a year including its pride and joy event, an annual Lima Bean Fest on the 2nd Saturday in September that features samples of lima bean dishes from local restaurants, lima bean history slide show, a bean threshing demonstration, music and kids crafts.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Fundraising is always a challenge, especially for a project that was new to the public. Its a slow process. But with persistence and a few sponsorship surprises along the way, we have garnered the trust of the public and have proven worthy of supporting. We are 100 percent volunteers and every penny we raise goes towards the Farm Park. Most of our big donations have come from old farming families while a few businesses have jumped on board for some support.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a retired school teacher in Oxnard and taught American History. I always tried to add local history to the subject to make the class more real for the students. I have also authored 18 local history books, most of them for Arcadia Publishing. This too added to the education of my students and well as an awareness of my efforts to create a Farm Park history museum.

I have been the president of the Oxnard Historic Farm Park Foundation for over twenty years.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
By sharing our story of the farm park we are showing how we created a win-win situation for the family that sold the land and for community that now has a saved resource. By sharing our story, we hope we may get additional sponsors, donations and connections.

Pricing:

• Site visits are free
• We rent our sight for events – info on our website
• We sell local history books (Ventura County)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oxnardfarmpark.org
• Instagram: oxnardfarmpark
• Facebook: oxnardfarmpark
• Youtube: Oxnard Historic Farm Park@GottfriedSophie1867

Image Credits
Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt