About Us

Our chapter founder dreamed of starting a chapter in her community to accommodate today's busy young women who are going to school, working, or raising children. Along with her daughter, they began to publicize the formation of this chapter, and within a few months, the chapter had met the required minimum of 12 ladies needed to form a chapter.

Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR, was organized with 31 members on November 6, 2011, and approved by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution on December 10, 2011. The Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR, members celebrated the organization and founding of the chapter with over 100 guests in attendance, including our state regent and the mayor of the city of Simi Valley.

Chapter officers pictured at the organizing meeting with state officers, Simi Valley mayor, and chapter officers.
Shown above are the chapter officers with honored guests at the chapter’s organizing meeting. Honored guests included the state regent and the mayor of Simi Valley. Photo courtesy of chapter archives.

Founding Members

The organizing regent was given the honor of organizing the Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR, on April 9, 2011. After much research and submitting three possible chapter names to the National Society, it was decided our chapter with 31 founding members, would be known as the Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR.

A Young and Honored Chapter

Since its inception, Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR, and its members have been recognized at the California State Society DAR level in the areas of community service, women’s issues, and genealogy.

Rancho Simi

Our chapter name comes from our local history. Rancho Simí, also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí, was a 113,009-acre (457 km) Spanish land grant in eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles counties granted in 1795 to Santiago Pico. Rancho Simí was the earliest Spanish colonial land grant within Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The name derives from Shimiji, which is the name of the Chumash village in the Simi Valley, many years before the Spanish arrival. It was one of the largest land grants ever made, approximately 113,000 acres.

After the Mexican-American War and the cession of California to the United States, the Treaty of Hidalgo provided that land grants would be honored, and the grant was given to Jose de la Guerra y Noriega in 1865. After his death, the Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí became known as Rancho Simi. It was sold to the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company. In 1887, a portion of the rancho was sold to the Simi Land and Water Company, which later became the city of Simi Valley. The home of Robert Strathearn served as the Rancho Simi headquarters, and the Simi Adobe-Strathern House is still in Simi Valley as part of the Strathearn Historical Park and Museum.

Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR,

Now and Then

2023

After a long delay due to the pandemic, we were finally able to gather to celebrate our chapter's 10th year anniversary in February! What a wonderful party it was!