Nestled neatly within a picturesque plateau rimmed by
tree-dotted hills and scenic mountains, the City of Thousand
Oaks is 12 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, 39 miles west of Los Angeles, and 24 miles Southeast of Port Hueneme, the
only deepwater harbor between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Situated
near the southeastern edge of Ventura County, adjoining the western edge of Los Angeles County,
in a valley called The Conejo, Thousand
Oaks lies within a
55-square-mile area with an average elevation of 900 feet above sea level.
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Administration
and planning is accomplished by a
5-member elected City
Council
with an appointed City Manager, along with extensive citizen
involvement. The
city is committed to offering the finest quality community services to
its
residents and businesses. Since it"s incorporation, Thousand Oaks has
earned recognition as one of the safest cities of its size in the nation
and
one of the top ten communities for statewide academic achievement. Also,
the
city has received awards for it"s more than 2,500 organized recreation
and
leisure programs conducted each year within 33 developed parks, 5 play
fields
and 1 district park, in addition to the 1,300-acre Wildwood Park, 12,000
acres
of open space and 75 miles of trails. Thousand
Oaks is proud of it's past and present, and
welcomes the new millennium with confidence that the city will continue
to
offer a quality suburban lifestyle within this beautiful natural
environment. Thousand Oaks is conveniently |
located approximately
halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles
on the US 101 Freeway for easy access to the
rest of California
and the world.
History of Thousand Oaks and The Conejo Valley
The mountains, hills and plateau that make up The Conejo
Valley are a geologic chronicle to the Precambrian past when the forces of
fire, ice, wind, and water began to carve the California landscape as we see it today. Ventura County was under the ocean with
volcanoes rising above the water"s surface. Seashells and other marine
fossils are still embedded in our local hills. Over millions of years, powerful
earthquakes and other natural forces raised and moved landmasses, sculpted
mountains, valleys, riverbeds, lakes and canyons.
Evidence
indicates that the first native
inhabitants lived
in Ventura County 7,000 years ago and were called the Oak
Grove people.
The
tribes later known as the Chumash moved into the region
about 3,000
years ago
and established more than 40 villages where they lived by
harvesting
grains and
acorns, and hunting rabbits, boar, deer and other game. The
area"s
recorded history dates back to 1542, when explorer Juan
Rodriguez
Cabrillo
discovered Alta, California, and anchored in several harbors
from San
Diego to
Point Conception. He placed his country"s flag at Point Mugu
and claimed
the land for the King of Spain. Thereafter, the region
remained
undisturbed for
two and a half centuries until Spanish explorers and
missionaries
arrived. In
the early 1800"s, a Spanish governor
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granted over 48,000
acres of land
to
two loyal soldiers. One of the grants included the area that became known as
the Conejo Valley,
(valley of the rabbits), within which Thousand
Oaks was later established. For the next half-century,
vaqueros roamed the terrain and tended great herds of cattle. In the late
l800"s, the valley began to be parceled into ranchos. Early pioneers
opened a post office and the historic Stagecoach Inn. In the early l900"s,
the Janss family, developers of several Southern
California subdivisions, purchased 10,000 acres of Conejo
farmland. Field crops, orchards, chicken, hog, and dairy farms dotted
the
landscape when the first local highway made it possible for motorcars to
come
out from Los Angeles
to see the scenic countryside. More settlers arrived as well as flocks of
tourists to see jungle animals performing at Goebel"s Lion Farm, opened in
1927, and later called Jungleland. By mid-century, the Janss Corporation
activated plans for a "total community." Within a decade, there were
two shopping centers, an industrial park, schools, churches, and a four-year
liberal arts college to lure increasingly more residents to the rural development.