Simi Valley Public Cemetery

imi Cemetery Map, 4890). During the Southern California boom years of 1887-1888, the Simi Land and Water Company advertised land for sale in the Chicago newspapers. A group of eight Chicago doctors formed a corporation to purchase property and established what they called a Mutual Benefit Colony (Cameron, 1963). Their promotional literature referred to the area as Simiopolis, “The Garden of Southern California,” and stressed the potential for profits to be made from agriculture and the variety of crops that could be grown in the Valley. Also, the literature eloquently described the climatic advantages of the Simi Valley and predicted that within a few short years it would be “The most sought after desirable ad spot for invalids” to be found in the State of California (California Mutual Benefit Colony of California, 1888).