Unocal Corporation
In 1900, Dr. Cephas L. Bard, with backing from his brother Thomas R. Bard, purchased for $3,000 a quarter of a block at the corner of Fir and Poli streets in Ventura. The land was acquired for the purpose of building a large hospital in memory of their mother, Elizabeth Bard. Cephas Bard had been practicing medicine in Ventura since 1868 and was the first president of the Ventura County Medical Association and a past president of the California State Medical Society. Thomas Bard was one of the founders of Unocal Corporation who also served as a U.S. Senator from 1900 to 1905.