This area of Ventura County was part of the Rancho El Canejo Land Grant of 1803.
Over the next 200 years the area change ownership many times. Most notable were The Banning Brothers who were the fiest to develop plans to build a resort; however, hey decided to develop Catalina Island instead.
The construction of the dam in 1904 created the "Big Lake," known as
At the base of the dam, the lush forest served as the setting for Sherwood Forest in the first Robin Hood film in 1922 starting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Soon, the lake was know as Sherwood Lake. Many of the area names were derived from the Robin Hood folklores.
Over the years, the Sherwood area has been a favorite location for filming scouts. Scenes from Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932 ), with Johnny Weismueller and Maureen O'Sullivan, Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) starrring Henry Fonda and Claudett Colbert, The Enchanted Cottage (1940) with Robert Young and Dorothy Maguire, and Lassie Come Home (1943) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell were filmed at Sherwood.
Many of Sherwood's owners had grandiose plans for development at Lake Sherwood. From 1925 to the Depression of 1929, a number of homes were built, a clubhouse was erected and a golf course was planned. These plans were revived in 1984 when David H Murdock acquired approximately 1900 acres which included the lake ... and...