Bardsdale was named after Thomas Bard who was the most powerful force in the development of Ventura County during the late 19th century and the only man ever to become a United States Senator from Ventura County.

Bardsdale's growth began in the 1890s with the development of ten-acre citrus ranches laid out in a grid. But Bardsdale never became as a town. Instead, it became a satellite ranching community of Fillmore after a the Fillmore Railroad Depot was built in 1887.

The Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church is the only community building remaining from the original settlement of Bardsdale and one of the few remaining examples of Carpenter Gothic architecture in Ventura County.

A Methodist congregation began meeting in Bardsdale as early as 1892. By 1898, it had grown large enough to need its own church. Senator Bard contributed the land and the north art glass window. The congregation contributed labor, which included hauling the Sespe brownstone for the foundation, and provided the west art glass window. The church is built of virgin redwood brought by wagon from the harbor at Port Hueneme.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1986.