Newbury Park is a town located mostly within the western Thousand Oaks city limits in Ventura County, California, United States. It makes up all of ZIP code 91320, and is within area code 805. The unincorporated county island of Casa Conejo is also part of Newbury Park. Lying within the Conejo Valley in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area, Newbury Park abuts the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The community is located approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Downtown Los Angeles and is less than 7 mi (11 km) from the Los Angeles County border in Westlake Village. The closest coastal city is Malibu, 22 mi (35 km) from Newbury Park, which may be reached through winding roads or hiking trails crossing the Santa Monica Mountains. About 28,000 of Thousand Oaks' 110,000 residents reside in Newbury Park.
Newbury Park, along with Thousand Oaks proper, have numerous times ranked among the safest and also wealthiest communities in the United States. Money Magazine has ranked Newbury Park as one of the most affluent cities in the United States. It has the 11th highest per-capita income and the fourth-highest median household income in the country. As of 2013, the median household income in Newbury Park is $107,302, compared to $60,190 for California as a whole and $53,046 nationwide.
Video Newbury Park, California
Etymology
Newbury Park is named after Egbert Starr Newbury, who was the founder of Newbury Park, as well as the first postmaster in the Conejo Valley in 1875. Egbert Starr Newbury called his ranch here "Newbury Park", which ultimately became the name for the entire town. Egbert Starr Newbury and his family owned thousands of acres in the Conejo Valley, but only lived in Newbury Park for a total of six years. He moved from Michigan to Southern California for health reasons in 1871, opened Conejo Valley's first post office in 1875, but left California only two years later. The Newbury Park Post Office has changed locations numerous times but the Newbury Park address has survived and is still used even though much of the area was incorporated into the city of Thousand Oaks.
Maps Newbury Park, California
History
Pre-colonial period
The first written material on the Conejo Valley comes from a Chumash folklore told to anthropologist John P. Harrington around 1900 from local Chumash Indians:
«Early one morning in 9080 B.C., the ancestral grandfather from whom I took my name, headed west on one of his most adventurous hunting trips ever... As the group climbed Old Boney, they looked back to the north and could see the pleasant openings of the Conejo- and Hidden Valleys. There, there appeared to be good grazing ground for the mammoth herd and they proceeded thence.»
The Chumash folklore is likely related to the Paleo-Indians, which was the ancestral people of the Chumash. Mammoth fossils have been unearthed in Newbury Park in 1961 and later in 1971, which is at display at the Stagecoach Inn Museum. Newbury Park is believed to first be inhabited by Chumash beginning 6,000, 7,000, or as much as 10,000 years ago. Newbury Park was home to three Chumash villages: Satwiwa by the southern edge of town, as well as two villages that were located by today's Ventu Park Road. These villages were settled 2,000 years ago, and had a population of 100-200 inhabitants in each village. In addition to those three, a large Chumash village was located just north of Arroyo Conejo Open Space by Wildwood Regional Park. Other nearby villages include Lalimanux (Lalimanuc or Lalimanuh) at the base of the Conejo Grade by westernmost Newbury Park, as well as Kay?w?? or Kayiwish (Kawyis) (CA-Ven-243) also by the Conejo Grade. This region contains numerous pictographs.
Newbury Park also contains many ancient burial sites, most near the Santa Monica Mountains in the southern portion of the community. Many artifacts have been discovered in the area, most notably by Rancho Sierra Vista in southern Newbury Park. Satwiwa, which is Chumash for "the bluffs", was the name of a nearby village by the Big Sycamore Canyon. The canyon was a popular trading route for the Chumash- and Tongva people, connecting the Conejo Valley to Mugu Lagoon through the Santa Monica Mountains. Unlike Satwiwa, which is now protected as a part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the two other Chumash villages once located within Newbury Park are located on private lands by Ventu Park Road. These are known as CA-Ven-65, CA-Ven-261, and CA-Ven-260 near the Fieldhouse in Newbury Park. At CA-Ven-261 is an ancient Chumash burial site as suggested by a village of long duration.
The Ventureño Chumash first settled in the west end of the Santa Monica Mountains because of its abundant food supply. They had plentiful of roots, berries, seeds, bulbs, acorns, walnuts, and also a varied wildlife, including birds, deer and squirrels that were hunted. Shellfish and fish were transported from the nearby Mugu Lagoon across the Santa Monicas. Here they also discovered an abundance of jackrabbits and other rabbit species, which were hunted widely for fur and meat. At one point, the Chumash here gathered a group of 27 men and killed hundreds of rabbits during a rabbit round-up, which was a significant event of late summers in the Conejo Valley. Along with Rancho Sierra Vista, various Chumash artifacts and petroglyphs have been found along the Arroyo Conejo, particularly in the Santa Monica Mountains. Numerous of the discovered artifacts are for display both at the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, and at the Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks. In partnership with Friends of Satwiwa, the National Park Service began talks of establishing the current Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and Natural Area in 1978. Boney Mountain in southern Newbury Park is now a sacred site for the Chumash, and nearby Satwiwa is frequently used by the Chumash Barbareño-Ventureño Band of Mission Indians for events such as community dancing and celebrations of various ceremonies, e.g. summer solstice.
19th century
When the Europeans first arrived in the Conejo Valley, they pressed plow to furrow and fields to barley and wheat. Newbury Park is named after its founder, Egbert Starr Newbury, who owned thousands of acres of land in the Conejo Valley and who later became the first postmaster. E.S. Newbury, Howard Mills, and John Edwards were among the first to buy former Rancho El Conejo land in the early 1870s. El Rancho Conejo was an area which today encompasses most of the Conejo Valley and was named for its many rabbits. Its name derives from a Spanish land grant in California, encouraged by the Spanish- and Mexican governments. Newbury and his wife Fannie moved to California from Michigan of health reasons in 1871 and he later became the first postmaster in the Conejo Valley in 1875. The post office was near their house which was located at the current location of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. E.S. Newbury purchased 2,200 acres of land in 1874, which stretched from today's old town Thousand Oaks and into Hidden Valley in southern Newbury Park. In the 1870s, Egbert S. Newbury and his wife Fannie moved full-time to their ranch in Conejo Valley, in which they named "Newbury Park" because the land looked so much like a park community. It consisted of his house, barn, and a guest house for people to come visit to "enjoy the healthful climate", according to E.S. Newbury. The area was remote and only five families lived in the Conejo Valley at the time, all on large ranch lands. The ranches were miles apart and there were no grocery stores, medical facilities, schools, or churches in the valley. He had acres of wheat and owned thousands of sheep. The weather had a great impact on E.S. Newbury's health, and he wrote to his sister Kittie home in Michigan on November 23, 1874:
«take wings and come to Conejo and enjoy our warm bright days all winter... be outdoors instead of confined indoors... I am out all the time and our drives now are just lovely with the country all turning green. The birds stay around our house in flocks all the time... Our roads to the ranch are splendid and they lie through beautiful canyons and large groves of live and white oak and sycamore, then into an open valley with slopes and surrounding hills covered with evergreen oaks...».
As a result of the increasing interest in the developing Conejo Valley, Newbury functioned as a public relations representative for the Conejo Valley. On December 25, 1875, E.S. Newbury wrote in the largest newspaper in Ventura County at the time, the Ventura Signal, the following words about Newbury Park:
«Next to Ojai and Santa Ana ranchos, the Conejo mountain valley has the best reputation as a health resort. It is well fifteen miles from Port Hueneme. The soil is immensely fertile, producing large crops of wheat and other grain...».
Before Newbury Park existed, the Grand Union Hotel provided a stopover for travelers that dates back to 1876. The hotel was operated as a health- and pleasure resort, and provided a rest stop for stagecoach passengers and a gathering place for residents in Newbury Park. The Conejo Valley pioneers were living in rugged individualism, where travelers had to make their journey over the Conejo Grade or Norwegian Grade to reach Camarillo where they could buy groceries. Newbury Park was an older settlement than Thousand Oaks, where people had settled wedged between Borchard lands on the south and Friedrich land on the north. The residents of the Conejo Valley had to travel to Oxnard for high school, burials or for marriages. As inhabitants of the valley had to travel to San Buenaventura (Ventura, CA) in order to get their mail, E.S. Newbury took the initiative to establish a local post office and applied to Washington, D.C. On July 16, 1875, the Newbury Park Post Office was established with E.S. Newbury as its first postmaster. The Conejo School District was established in March 1877. At the time, the population was 126 people living in the Conejo Valley. E.S. Newbury and other residents of the Conejo Valley were unprepared for the 1876-1878 drought, in which there were only six inches of rain in thirty months. The unforeseen drought devastated Newbury Park and the valley. With no rain, the crops died and natural grasses as well, which were food for the ranchers' sheep. Egbert went bankrupt and decided to move with his family in 1877, and rode with his wagon and family back to Michigan where he ultimately settled in Detroit. On September 28, 1878, the land Egbert once called "Newbury Park" was sold at a sheriff's sale. The post office remained its original name, despite having moved from its original destination, which is why Newbury Park has its name today.
Modern history
Newbury Park was a more established and older community than Thousand Oaks at the beginning of the 20th century. In the early 20th century, Newbury Park had a few ranches and stores, wedged between Borchard lands to the south and Friedrich land on the north. During the 1940s, Ventu Park behind Newbury Park's main street became a 500-acre real estate development. Lots sold to movie stars who wanted a rustic retreat and others. One of the male members of the New York Rothschilds built a large home by Ventu Park and lived in relative seclusion here in the 1940s.
Prior to the 1960s, Newbury Park was never incorporated as its own city or municipality, it was unincorporated areas of Ventura County with little development. During the 1950s there were speculations persisting that Ventura County officials refused to allow Newbury Park to expand because of a feud with the would-be developers. Between 1950 and 1970, Conejo Valley experienced a population boom, and increased its population from 3,000 to 30,000 residents. Newbury Park had failed attempts at creating its own municipality in the early 1960s, not only in order to create its own city, but to also remain independent from Thousand Oaks to the east. A 1963 attempt at a cityhood election failed when the Janss' Rancho Conejo Industrial Park and the Talley Corporation refused to join the efforts. Activist Reba Hays Jeffries of the Stagecoach Inn had a different explanation for interviewers when addressing why efforts at an independent municipality failed. She claimed the cityhood supporters were required to collect signatures from owners who represented 29 percent of the land area in Newbury Park. As the efforts collected signatures from 29 percent of registered voters, and not Newbury Park landowners, the petition never came on the ballot. Reba M. H. Jeffries was one of several opponents to the idea of annexation when it was first proposed in 1967. Jeffries feared for the identity of Newbury Park and was quoted in an interview saying: "It's a shame that the Thousand Oaks personality is overpowering to the extent that Newbury Park is losing its large ranches and freedom." Jeffries was also opposed to the proposition to demolish the Stagecoach Inn in 1964, and fought to keep the Newbury Park Post Office in town.
The City of Thousand Oaks was formally established on September 29, 1964, and throughout the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, most Newbury Park land was annexed by the City of Thousand Oaks. The annexed area was formerly controlled by Ventura County, but as of 2016, all but Casa Conejo and Ventu Park is within Thousand Oaks city limits. Together with Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park was part of a master planned community by the Janss Investment Company.
Newbury Park has had an increasing population due to the presence of biotechnology firms and technology corporations of the area, such as Amgen (world headquarters) and Baxter, as well as numerous other high-technology corporations. Newbury Park has become a nationally prominent center for the technology industry, and is now home to several luxurious office buildings and an increasing number of upper-end residential communities.
President George W. Bush visited the Newbury Park High School and the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center in 2003.
Housing
The community contains two major new residential areas, Rancho Conejo Village (built on the site of the former Rancho Conejo Airport, where portions of the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World were filmed) and Dos Vientos Ranch. The first planned community in Newbury Park was Casa Conejo, located in a roughly square-shaped unincorporated area.
Geography
Newbury Park can be described as a town, community, or section mostly within the Thousand Oaks city limits in addition to rural areas west of Thousand Oaks, as well as Casa Conejo. It is situated in the southeastern corner of Ventura County, between the Santa Monica Mountains to the south, and protected nature areas as Wildwood Regional Park to the north. Thousand Oaks proper is to the east and the city of Camarillo is down the Conejo Grade to the west. It is located in the Conejo Valley. Compared to Thousand Oaks proper, Newbury Park remains a significantly more rural community, with fewer set-houses and more custom-designed or rustic homes. Newbury Park is also known for being more accommodated for equestrians than its counterpart to the east. The recreational areas accessible from U.S. Highway 101 include the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. Being located less than six miles from the Los Angeles County line, Newbury Park is in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Newbury Park is both a benefactor and a victim of the modern-day freeway development. It is a planned community, which originally solely functioned as a commuter bedroom community. In recent times, however, Newbury Park has attracted numerous high-tech industries, keeping many of its former commuters home.
Newbury Park sprawls across three freeway exits on U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway). For a more scenic drive, it can also be reached by crossing through the Santa Monica Mountains from the coast. The main road through the Hidden Valley turns eventually into Potrero Road, ultimately leading to Newbury Park. There are numerous trailheads in town, for instance one leading through the Santa Monica Mountains and all the way to the coast. There are also trailheads to Wildwood Regional Park, where one can easily hike to both Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.
Climate
While the Conejo Valley is generally cooler than the San Fernando and Simi Valleys, the temperature remains temperate year-long in Newbury Park. The region has a mild, year-round Mediterranean climate or Dry-Summer Subtropical zone climate, with warm, sunny, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Vegetation is typical of Mediterranean environments, with chaparral and grasses on the hillsides and numerous western valley oaks. Its elevation ranges from about 500 to 900 feet (150 to 270 m) (excluding hills). The area has slightly cooler temperatures than the surrounding areas, as it receives cooler air from the ocean through various hill and mountain passes.
On March 10 and 11 of 2006, snow fell on the peak of Boney Mountain, the first snow to fall in the area in about 10 years.
Natural hazards
Some of the natural hazards include wildfires, earthquakes, heat waves, droughts, landslides and erosion. The Conejo Valley is relatively often the victim of earthquakes, including the major 1994 Northridge earthquake. Along with most of Southern California, droughts are prevalent. The major drought of 1876-1878, with only six inches of rain in thirty months, devastated Newbury Park and forced its founder, Egbert Starr Newbury, to leave the area.
Newbury Park has been affected by the massive Thomas Fire of December 2017, and a smoke advisory was issued the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. Subsequently, all public schools were closed on December 6, 2017. An additional 3-acre brush fire, nicknamed the Runner Fire, broke out behind the headquarters of Amgen and Shire (Baxalta) on December 5. Both Amgen and nearby Sage Publishing decided to evacuate their employees due to thick smoke. The fire had a potential of reaching Hill Canyon due to the warm Santa Ana winds, but was contained before causing major damage or injuries.
Geology
Newbury Park is the westernmost community in the Conejo Valley, which is located in southern Ventura County. It is a broad, wide, and high-lying incline, with an average elevation of 900 feet above sea level. It is bordered by the steep ridge-lines of the Santa Monica Mountains to the south and southeast, Conejo Mountains to the west and north (including the Conejo Grade in westernmost Newbury Park), and the Simi Hills to the northeast. While the Oxnard Plain and the community of Camarillo is immediately to the west, the Santa Rosa Valley is beyond the Conejo Mountains or through Hill Canyon to the north. Beyond the Santa Monica's to the south is the Pacific Ocean, while the San Fernando Valley is beyond the valley's eastern ridges. The physiography is characterized by open vistas, high peaks, creeks and creek-beds, prominent knolls, and native oak woodlands. Along with the Santa Rosa-, Tierra Rejada- and Simi Valleys, the Conejo Valley is also drained by tributaries of the Calleguas Creek. Its principal tributary, Arroyo Conejo, flows through Newbury Park in a southwesterly direction before discharging into the Pacific Ocean by the Mugu Lagoon.
Economy
Agriculture was the only industry present in Newbury Park for many decades, and dominated the economy until the 1950s. Today, most of the community is part of the City of Thousand Oaks, whose economy is based on a small range of businesses, with biotechnology, electronics, automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, healthcare, and financing occupying most of Thousand Oaks' employment sector. After the incorporation of large parts of Newbury Park, the City of Thousand Oaks helped revitalize sections of Newbury Park through the former Redevelopment Agency. The global headquarters of biotechnology firm Amgen, DesignworksUSA, as well as the industrial design and styling department of BMW are located in the community, as are offices for Anthem Blue Cross, Sage Publications, and Skyworks Solutions.
Amgen has its headquarters in Newbury Park, and is the world's largest biotech company as well as the largest employer in the Conejo Valley. Founded in 1980, Amgen now employs nearly 7,000, and has attracted hundreds of scientists to the Newbury Park area. Focused on the cutting edge of molecular biology and biochemistry, its goal is to provide a healthcare business based on recombinant DNA technology. Besides Amgen, other major employers include Baxalta, Baxter Bio Science, Wellpoint Blue Cross, Skyworks Solutions Inc., and many more. Hewlett-Packard was previously located here. Particularly during and after the 1960s, the area started to attract large corporations, biotechnology firms, and other high-technology industries. As a result of the steadily increasing number of high-technology industries in the area, Newbury Park has been dubbed "the next Silicon Valley".
Culture
Newbury Park is home to museums such as the Stagecoach Inn Museum and the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center. Furthermore, the community is home to the Thousand Oaks Art Gallery and its Thousand Oaks Arts Festival. Other festivals include the annual Spring Art & Crafts Festival, featuring more than one hundred craftspeople and artists, as well as the Newbury Park Jazz Festival which is annually held at the performing arts center at Newbury Park High School.
Politics
Newbury Park is politically considered to be a stronghold for the Republican Party, and had three registered Republican voters for every Democrat as of 2007. The Calvary Chapel Godspeak in Newbury Park is a church often visited by Republican politicians for speeches and events. Some of the most notable speakers include Republican nominees for president, Rand Paul in 2013 and Newt Gingrich in 2011. The senior pastor is Rob McCoy, who was the 2014 Republican candidate for California's 44th State Assembly district and is a current Thousand Oaks' City Council Member. Republican politician Richard "Rich" Sybert of Newbury Park has been the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in 1994 and the 1996, but was defeated both times.
Demographics
According to the U.S. Census 2010, 76.81% of the population identify as white, 10.72% Asian-American, 1.88% African-American, 0.09% Native-American, and 6.78% claim 'other'. 19.18% of the people in Newbury Park claim Hispanic ethnicity or heritage. As of 2005, only the community of Newbury Park, not including Thousand Oaks, had a median household income of $83,615. For Thousand Oaks as a whole according to the 2005 US Census Bureau, the median household income was $108,120, while median family income was $110,885. According to Money Magazine, median family income as of 2006 was up to $119,207, which is substantially higher than both the California median income and U.S. median household income of $64,585. The median house value is $678,400.
Public safety
Fire department
The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services. Two fire stations are located in Newbury Park.
Law enforcement
Ventura County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services for the city. They operate a resource center in the city.
Crime
Newbury Park has one of the lowest crime rates in California. Thousand Oaks has ranked as the 4th-safest city in the United States by The FBI.
It shocked town when Newbury Park experienced its first homicide in over ten years on November 30, 2017.
Education
Newbury Park High School has over 2,600 students and a newly refurbished multi-sport stadium. Intermediate schools include Sequoia Middle School and the recently constructed Sycamore Canyon School in Dos Vientos Ranch. All are part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District.
Timber School, now known as Conejo Valley High School, is the first of the existing schools, having been built in 1924 to replace the first one-room schoolhouse that was built in 1889. Recent additions to the school were made in the late 1940s and 1950s. Newbury Park Adventist Academy is the second of the existing schools in Newbury Park, founded in 1947.
- Conejo Valley Unified School District
- Newbury Park High School
- Redwood Middle School
- Sequoia Middle School
- Sycamore Canyon Middle School
- Newbury Park Adventist Academy
- Conejo Adventist Elementary School
- Walnut Elementary School
- Earths Elementary School
- Banyan Elementary School
- Cypress Elementary School
- Maple Elementary School
Recreation
Newbury Park borders the Boney Mountains State Wilderness Area and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south, the Los Robles Open Space Area to the east, and the Arroyo Conejo Open Space Area and Wildwood Regional Park to the north. In addition to the aforementioned nature areas, the Potrero Open Space is located entirely within the town, while the Hope Nature Reserve is partly in eastern Newbury Park. There are numerous hiking trails nearby, including the Rancho Potrero Open Space Area which connects to trails leading to the Pacific Ocean through the Rancho Sierra Vista Park, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Point Mugu State Park. Rancho Sierra Vista is a National Recreation Area in Newbury Park's southern edge and is administrated by the U.S. National Park Service. With more than a hundred miles of trails in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Rancho Sierra Vista in southern Newbury Park is a popular nature area for hiking, mountain biking, camping, horseback-riding, and other recreational activities. While the Backbone Trail leads to Will Rogers State Beach in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, Sandstone Peak is the highest mountain in the Santa Monica Mountains and another popular hiking destination. The peak provides views of the Pacific Ocean, Malibu, Santa Monica, Conejo Valley, and numerous Channel Islands. The Conejo Mountain Edison Road Trail, commonly known as the Powerline Trail, is located in the Dos Vientos Open Space Area and provides panoramic views of the cities of Camarillo and Oxnard.
On the northern end is Wildwood Regional Park, which offers fourteen trails covering more than 17 miles (27 km). Wildwood is recognized as a natural attraction and a contributing factor to Ventura County being ranked the most desirable U.S. county to live in by the Washington Post in 2015. The regional park comprises 1,732 acres (7.01 km2) and borders 1,397 acres (5.65 km2) of open space. It is accessible from northern Newbury Park and is located within the Thousand Oaks city limits. While Wildwood provides trails to the cities of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, the Los Robles Trail is a 25-mile (40 km) contiguous route to Westlake Village. Point Mugu is accessible through the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in the Santa Monica Mountains to the south. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area comprises more than 63,000 acres (250 km2) of natural open-space area, where approximately 928 acres are located within the town's southern edge.
List of parks and public open-space
List of public-owned open-space areas and parks in Newbury Park:
Wildlife
Being surrounded by open-space wilderness areas and wildlife corridors to both the south and north, the town is home to an abundance of wildlife. Compared to neighboring City of Thousand Oaks, which consists of nearly 50% developed area, Newbury Park remains a significantly more rural community than its counterpart to the east. Approximately 928 of the 63,000 acres compromising the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is located within Newbury Park. It is recognized as the largest urban national park in the United States and is a California wildlife preserve. Rancho Sierra Vista in southern Newbury Park is one of the primary park units and functions as a crucial Southern California wildlife-corridor. Wildlife in the southern edge of town is therefore incredibly abundant, and includes animals such as black bears, eagles, porcupines, deer, prairie wolves, rabbits, falcons, bobcats, foxes, hawks, and more.
The National Park Service estimates a population of 10-15 Mountain lions inhabiting the Santa Monica Mountains as of 2015, in addition to mountain lions living permanently in Wildwood Regional Park which borders the town to the north. As a result of bordering numerous wilderness areas, there are few dangers presented for the mountain lion, which is consequentially not a threatened species in the area. Because of their large habitat and few dangers, lions are relatively often creating a hazard in suburban areas of Newbury Park. The mountain lion is not the only mammal threatening both inhabitants and their pets, but outdoor dogs and cats are often prey for an increasing number of coyotes, bobcats, and owls. An increasing number of snake species in suburban areas have also recently been recorded and poses a threat to people and pets as well. Other animals posing potential danger includes venomous spiders and scorpions, most notably the Stripe-tailed scorpion.
Mammals more frequently encountered than the Mountain lion include the Valley coyote, Bobcat, Mule deer, Gray fox, Desert cottontail, Virginia opossum, California raccoon, Long-tailed weasel, American badger and the Striped skunk. Other species of mammals include the Ring-tailed cat, Spotted skunk, Botta's pocket gopher, Brush rabbit, Broad-footed mole, California vole, Ornate shrew, and three species of squirrel: the California ground squirrel, Western gray squirrel, and Fox squirrel. Mice and rats include the California pocket mouse, House mouse, Western harvest mouse, Deer Mouse, Agile kangaroo rat, Pack rat, Dusky-footed woodrat, and the Brown- and Black rat. There are eleven recorded species of bats. Amphibians include the Blackbelly salamander, Ensatina, Western skink, and numerous toad- and frog species: California toad, American bullfrog, California treefrog and Pacific treefrog.
The Western pond turtle is an endemic species to the Arroyo Conejo and other creeks. Newbury Park is home to an abundance of reptiles, including lizards such as the Western fence lizard, Coast horned lizard, Common side-blotched lizard, Southern alligator lizard, Teiidae and the California legless lizard. There are eleven species of snake recorded in the Greater Thousand Oaks Area: Southern Pacific rattlesnake, Ring-necked snake, Western yellowbelly racer, California whipsnake, Coachwhip, Gopher snake, California kingsnake, Two-striped garter snake, Western Black-headed Snake, Lyre snake, and Night snake. Thousand Oaks proper is home to 171 recorded species of birds, including seventeen raptors such as the Barn owl, Cooper's hawk, American kestrel, Prairie falcon, Red-shouldered hawk, Golden eagle, Great horned owl, White-tailed kite, California vulture, Northern harrier, Sharp-shinned hawk, Ferruginous hawk, Merlin and Screech owl. Commonly encountered bird species include the House sparrow, House finch, Brewer's blackbird, Common raven, California towhee, Acorn woodpecker, California quail, and the Red-tailed hawk.
Transportation
Newbury Park may be reached from four freeway exits on the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101): Exit 46 for Ventu Park Road, Exit 47A for Rancho Conejo Boulevard, 47B for Borchard Road, and Exit 47B/47C for Wendy Drive. Additionally, the community may be reached on route one (Gold Line) by the Thousand Oaks Transit (TOT), which also serves Thousand Oaks, CA and Westlake Village, CA.
Newbury Park was home to Conejo Valley Airport (Janss Ranch Airport), which opened in 1946-47 and closed by 1962.
Notable people
The community is home to celebrities. Examples include swing bandleader and clarinet player Artie Shaw lived in Newbury Park from 1978 until his death in 2004. Comic book author Jack Kirby lived in Newbury Park for at least his last two decades. The first quadruplets in Orange County live in Newbury Park, as does Carah Faye Charnow of the band Shiny Toy Guns. The band The Neighbourhood, M. Ward of She & Him, and Belinda Carlisle from The Go-Go's all grew up in Newbury Park. Jordan Cameron played football for Newbury Park High School and went on to be drafted to the NFL by the Cleveland Browns then as a tight end for the Miami Dolphins. Others include Amanda Bynes who went to La Reina High School, Colbie Caillat, Brandon Mull, and Heather Locklear. Football player Jamon Brown of the Los Angeles Rams resides in Dos Vientos in western Newbury Park. Football player Colby Cameron is from Newbury Park, while evangelist George Vandeman lived in the community at the time of his death in 2000. Other famous residents include Joe Conley, Craig Saavedra, Andrew Lambo, Will Svitek, Wayne Hooper, Donny Atherton and Marian Mercer.
In popular culture
Because of its relatively close proximity to the studios in Hollywood, numerous TV shows and movies were filmed here, including for example Flaming Frontier (1926), Wild Horse (1931), Clearing the Range (1931), Wuthering Heights (1939), Lassie Come Home (1943), To the Shores of Iwo Jima (1945), The Horse Soldiers (1959), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). More recent movies filmed here includes Bedtime Stories (2008), Gamers: The Movie (2006), Road to the Open (2014), The Diner (2014), and The Double Born (2008).
Various movies have also been shot in Hidden Valley, which borders the Santa Monica Mountains in southernmost Newbury Park. Some movies shot here include Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), Commando (1985), The Lone Ranger (1956), Come On, Tarzan (1932), Jagged Edge (1985), The Hand (1981), Spinout (1965), Three Hours to Kill (1954), A Lawless Street (1955), and many more. TV-series with shots filmed here include American Horror Story (2011), Justified (2010), Beverly Hills, 90210 (1992), Columbo (1971), Charmed (1988), amongst others.
Many western-style movies were filmed in Wildwood Regional Park, which borders Newbury Park to the north. Some of the movies and TV-series filmed here include Bonanza, Dodge City, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Flaming Star, The Big Valley and Wagon Train, as well as films such as Spartacus, Gunsight Ridge, The Grapes of Wrath, and Duel in the Sun.
Belinda Carlisle was a student at Newbury Park High School, and has credited her song California to her life "growing up in Newbury Park and Southern California."
Points of interest
- Stagecoach Inn, 1876 stagecoach hotel now operating as a museum
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA), part of Santa Monica Mountains managed by the National Park Service
- Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center, Native-American museum at the foothills of Boney Mountain
- Rancho Sierra Vista, historic ranch area owned by the National Park Service
- Big Sycamore Canyon, canyon in Point Mugu State Park which cuts through the Santa Monica Mountains
- Backbone Trail, long-distance trail connecting Newbury Park to the Pacific Ocean
- Boney Mountains State Wilderness Area, areas of Santa Monica Mountains surrounding Boney Peak
- Rosewood Trail, hiking trail to the 1,603 feet Angel Vista in the Santa Monica's
- Hope Nature Preserve, nature preserve and gift from actor Bob Hope
- Wildwood Regional Park, 1,765 acre regional park immediately north of Newbury Park
References
External links
- Media related to Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks at Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments