Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees present in the area.
The city forms the central populated core of the Conejo Valley. Thousand Oaks was incorporated in 1964 and has since expanded to the west and east. Two-thirds of the master-planned community surrounding Westlake and most of Newbury Park were annexed by the city during the late 1960s and 1970s. The Los Angeles County–Ventura County line forms the city's eastern border with the city of Westlake Village. The population was 126,966 at the 2020 census, up from 126,683 at the 2010 census.
History Etymology One of the earliest names used for the area was Conejo Mountain Valley, as used by the founder of Newbury Park, Egbert Starr Newbury, in the 1870s.Begun, Ruthanne (2006). The Newburys of Newbury Park. Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 42. . During the 1920s, today's Thousand Oaks was home to 100 residents. In the 1920s, the residents held a naming competition where the 14-year-old Bobby Harrington's name suggestion won: Thousand Oaks.Chalquist, Craig (2008). Deep California: Images and Ironies of Cross and Sword on El Camino Real. Craig Chalquist. Page 275. .O'Brien, Tricia (2017). Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. .Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 37. . The valley is characterized by its tens of thousands of oak trees (50,000–60,000 in 2012).
When the city was incorporated in 1964, the Janss Corporation suggested the name Conejo City (City of Conejo). A petition was signed by enough residents to put Thousand Oaks on the ballot. An overwhelming majority—87%—of the city's 19,000 residents voted for the name Thousand Oaks during the September 29, 1964, election.
Pre-colonial period
Chumash people were the first to inhabit the area, settling there over 10,000 years ago. It was home to two major villages: Sap'wi ("House of the Deer") and Satwiwa ("The Bluffs").Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley : Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 13. . Sap'wi is now by the Chumash Interpretive Center which is home to multiple 2,000-year-old pictographs.Whitley, David S. (1996). A Guide to Rock Art Sites: Southern California and Southern Nevada. Mountain Press Publishing. Pages 175–176. . Satwiwa is the home of the Native American Indian Culture Center which sits at the foothills of Mount Boney in Newbury Park, a sacred mountain to the Chumash.Riedel, Allen (2008). 100 Classic Hikes in Southern California: San Bernardino National Forest, Angeles National Forest, Santa Lucia Mountains, Big Sur and the Sierras. The Mountaineers Books. Page 118. .
A smaller village, Yitimasɨh, was located where Wildwood Elementary School sits today.Maxwell, Thomas J. (1982). The Temescals of Arroyo Conejo. California Lutheran College. Page 93.Sprankling, Miriam (2002). Discovering the Story of The Conejo Valley. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 9. . The area surrounding Wildwood Regional Park has been inhabited by the Chumash for thousands of years. Some of the artifacts discovered in Wildwood include stone tools, shell beads and arrowheads.Palmer, Norma E. (1994). Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties. Automobile Club of Southern California. Page 176. . Another small Chumash settlement, known as Šihaw (Ven-632i), was located where Lang Ranch sits today. A cave containing several swordfish and cupules pictographs is located here.Maxwell, Thomas J. (1982). The Temescals of Arroyo Conejo. California Lutheran College. Pages 58–59. Two other villages were located by today's Ventu Park Road in Newbury Park. These were populated 2,000 years ago and had a population of 100–200 in each village. Other villages included Lalimanuc (Lalimanux) and Kayɨwɨš (Kayiwish) by Conejo Grade. (Page 82). (Page 6).http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8833s5k5?query=lalimanuc;hitNum=1#page-3 (Pages 173–175).
The Chumash also had several summer encampments, including one located where Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza currently stands, known as Ipuc (Ven-654).Maxwell, Thomas J. (1982). The Temescals of Arroyo Conejo. California Lutheran College. Page 20. Another summer encampment was located at the current location of Los Robles Hospital.Maxwell, Thomas J. (1982). The Temescals of Arroyo Conejo. California Lutheran College. Page 29.
Each village was ruled by a chief or several chieftains, who often traveled between villages to discuss matters of common interest. A council of elders directed village life and organized events. Most villages had a cemetery, gaming field, a sweat house, and a place for ceremonies.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 14. . Locally discovered tribal artifacts are at display at Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and the Chumash Indian Museum.Waldman, Carl (2014). Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Infobase Publishing. Page 72. .
The region's recorded history dates to 1542, when Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed at Point Mugu and claimed the land for Spain. The Battle of Triunfo, which took place by Triunfo Creek, was waged over land between native Chumash and the Spanish newcomers.Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). Conejo Valley. Arcadia Publishing. Page 59. .
19th century
From 1804 to 1848, Thousand Oaks was part of Alta California, which originally was a Spanish polity in North America. It was the Spaniards who first named it Conejo Valley, or Valley of Rabbits. The Spaniards and indigenous Chumash clashed numerous times in disputes over land.Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). Conejo Valley. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. . Conejo Valley was given the name El Rancho Conejo in 1803. This year, Jose Polanco and Ignacio Rodriguez were granted El Rancho Conejo by Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga of Alta California. The land contained 48,671.56 acres. El Conejo was just one of two land grants in what became Ventura County, the other being Rancho Simi.
As a result of the Mexican War of Independence in 1822, Alta California became a Mexican territory. In 1822, Captain José de la Guerra y Noriega filed Conejo Valley as part of the Mexican land grant. It remained a part of Mexico until the short-lived California Republic was established in 1846. It became a part of the U.S. after California gained statehood in 1850. The valley was now known as Rancho El Conejo.O'Brien, Tricia (2017). Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. . The ranch period began when the de la Guerra family sold thousands of acres through the 1860s and early 1870s.
Two men owned most of Conejo Valley in the 1870s: John Edwards, who came from Wales in 1849, and Howard Mills, who came from Minnesota in 1870. While Edwards owned most of present-day Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park, Mills owned most of Westlake Village and Hidden Valley. Edwards' home was located on an acre of land where The Oaks Mall currently is located, while Mills built his home where Westlake Lake sits today. The third person to buy former Rancho El Conejo land was Egbert Starr Newbury. He bought 2,259 acres of land here in 1874, land which stretched from Old Town Thousand Oaks and into today's Newbury Park.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 23. . He later established the valley's first post office in 1875: Newbury Park Post Office.Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). Conejo Valley. Arcadia Publishing. Page 119. . When the Conejo Valley School District was established in March 1877, there were 126 residents living in Conejo Valley.Begun, Ruthanne (2006). The Newburys of Newbury Park. Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 48. .
In the late 19th century, Newbury Park was on the stagecoach route between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The Stagecoach Inn (Grand Union Hotel) was built in 1876, and is now a California Historical Landmark and museum.
Norwegian Colony
Thousand Oaks was home to a Norwegian community in the late 1890s and early 1900s, known as Norwegian Colony. Norwegian settlers were among the first to settle in Conejo Valley. The Norwegian Colony was located at today's intersection of Moorpark- and Olsen Roads, now home to California Lutheran University and surrounding areas. The Norwegian Colony constituted of over 650 acres and stretched from Mount Clef Ridge to Avenida de Los Arboles. The son of Norwegian immigrants donated his ranch to California Lutheran College in the 1950s. California Lutheran University is now home to the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation and the Scandinavian Festival.
Many place names are named after Norwegian immigrants such as the Olsen and Pedersen families.O'Brien, Tricia (2017). Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Arcadia Publishing. Page 80. . The first Norwegians came from the village of Stranda by Storfjorden. Ole Anderson bought 199 acres here, while Lars Pederson owned 111 acres. Other Norwegian pioneers also included Ole Nilsen, George Hansen and Nils Olsen. A major contribution was the construction of the handmade Norwegian Grade in 1911, a mile-long road leading from Thousand Oaks to Santa Rosa Valley.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 30. .
With no doctors or hospitals nearby, the Norwegian Colony was short-lived. The Olsen family lost seven of their ten children, while Ole Anderson, Lars Pederson, and George Hansen all died in 1901 due to a diphtheria epidemic.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 31. .
20th century
Newbury Park was a more established community than Thousand Oaks at the turn of the 20th century. A few lots existed early in the 1900s, wedged between Borchard land on the south and Friedrich land on the north.Schroeder, Anne (2000). Branches on the Conejo: Leaving the Soil After Five Generations. Russell Dean & Company. Page 86. . The Janss family, developers of Southern California subdivisions, purchased in the early 20th century. They eventually created plans for a "total community", and the name remains prominently featured in the city. Despite early aspirations, no large subdivisions were developed until the 1920s. The development was slow and hampered even more under the Great Depression of the 1930s. Besides agriculture, the movie industry became an important industry in the 1920s and 1930s.Triem, Judith P. (1990). Ventura County: Land of Good Fortune. EZ Nature Books. Pages 114–115. .
Between 1950 and 1970, Conejo Valley experienced a population boom, and increased its population from 3,000 to 30,000 residents.McCormack, Don (2000). Santa Barbara and Ventura 2001. Mccormacks Guides. Page 116. . From 3,500 residents in 1957, Thousand Oaks had over 103,000 inhabitants by 1989.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 85. . While ranching and agriculture were the dominant industries until the 1950s, a number of new businesses appeared throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Particularly many high-tech firms moved to Thousand Oaks in the '60s and '70s. Packard Bell and Technology Instrument Company were two high-technology businesses that moved into the Newbury Park industrial park in the 1960s. Other companies that followed included Westinghouse Astroelectronics Laboratory, Semtech Corporation, Purolator Inc., and Westland Plastics.Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Page 44. .