The town was founded in 1875 and named New Jerusalem, California, by Simon Cohn (1852–1936), a Prussian Jewish merchant who owned a general store at the location. The U.S. Post Office Department established New Jerusalem Post Office on July 26, 1882, and Cohn was appointed the first postmaster. The first one-room schoolhouse was opened in 1885. Santa Clara Catholic Church was founded the same year though services has been conducted since 1877. It was the first Catholic church to be built in Ventura County since the founding of Mission San Buenaventura 95 years earlier.