Rancho Simi Chapter, NSDAR

Simi Valley, California

Welcome

The Rancho Simi Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR), was organized with 39 members on November 6, 2011, and approved by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s National Board of Management on December 10, 2011. Since 2011, we have more than doubled our membership, and we are still growing! Most members of our chapter reside in Simi Valley, but local residency is not a requirement for membership in any chapter.

We are a group of women of all ages with varied backgrounds, talents, and professional experiences in many fields, each of whom is respected and valued as a member. We are dedicated to promoting the objectives of the NSDAR, a national, nonprofit, non-political, volunteer women’s service organization. Any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence is eligible to join the DAR.

Chapter meetings are held on weekends from January through May and September through November and include chapter business and a program presented by a guest speaker.

Today’s DAR

See what the DAR is doing today. Check out our channel on YouTube!

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.

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. 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.

Our Name

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 Spanish land grant in eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles counties, granted in 1795 to Santiago Pico. It was the earliest Spanish colonial land grant within Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of the largest land grants ever made in California. The name derives from Shimiji, the name of the Chumash village in the Simi Valley many years before the Spanish arrival.

After the Mexican-American War and the cession of California to the United States, the Treaty of Guadalupe 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. 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-Strathearn House is still in Simi Valley today, as part of the Strathearn Historical Park and Museum.

Chapter Board