Timber School was the first school in Newbury Park, California when established in 1889.[2][3] and the current 1924 reconstructed Timber School is the oldest remaining school in the City of Thousand Oaks.[4] It is also the oldest remaining public building in the Conejo Valley.[5][6]
The original Timber School was demolished in 1925, but the current building had already been erected a year before, immediately in front of the old schoolhouse. The current Timber School House was designed in Mission Revival architectural style by Roy C. Wilson, Ventura County's first licensed architect. It is the former site of Conejo Valley High School which moved following the site's 2015 sale to Daylight Thousand Oaks, LLC, a developer, for $8.9 million.[7] It is located at the southeast corner of Kelley- and Newbury Roads. It is City of Thousand Oaks Landmark No. 12, along with the nearby 1948 Auditorium,[5][6] and Ventura County Historical Landmark No. 166.[8][9]
The original 19th century bell tower can still be seen at its original site, while the bell itself is placed on a monument stand at Cypress Elementary School.[10][11] An authentic replica of the 1888 schoolhouse is located next to the Stagecoach Inn, along with a replica of the 13-inch high bell.[12][13]
Notable former students include Reba Hays Jeffries, H. Allen Hays, Adolph Friedrich Jr., Ed Borchard Jr., Donald Haigh, Casper Borchard Jr., Simon Hays, Fred Kelley, Oscar Olsen, and Florence Hampton.[8]
History
The 1888 bell is housed at Cypress Elementary School.
Until its establishment in 1889, students of Timberville (now Newbury Park, California) attended classes at the Grand Union Hotel, located a few hundred yards east from the schoolhouse.[14] The school drew its student body mainly from Newbury Park farms, and children reached the school on foot, horseback or by wagon.[14][15] It was originally constructed on land which belonged to Cecil Arthur Entwisle Haigh, the owner of the Grand Union Hotel.[14] In December 1888, Haigh sold two acres of his land for a new school, at the present day corner of Kelley and Newbury Roads. The school had one large classroom and two smaller rooms used as cloakrooms. The school was equipped with slate blackboards and coal oil lamps. The schoolhouse was also used for church services. A wood stove provided heat.[8] Miss Moster, the school's first teacher, taught approximately 35 students and was paid $40 per month.[16]
Colorized 1924 Timber Schoolhouse Landmark
Besides being used for educational purposes and church services, the school was used for May Day celebrations, wedding ceremonies, and picnics. The original school was condemned in 1921, and the Timber School Board of Trustees searched for funds to construct a bigger schoolhouse. Distinguished architect Roy C. Wilson of Santa Paula was selected to design the new structure. The new school, constructed in concrete, was completed in the fall of 1924. The original Timber School, located right behind the new one, was demolished and sold as lumber in 1925. As the population of the valley continued to grow, additional classrooms were needed and an auditorium was constructed in 1949. In July 1974, Timber School District joined with nearby school districts to form the Conejo Valley Unified School District. The Timber School has been used for district offices and later the Conejo Valley continuation high school, Conejo Valley High School. Currently, it is vacant, awaiting planned development. In the meantime, it has attracted vandalism and needed to be boarded up following a Fire Protection District inspection that yielded four fire code violations.[2]
On July 13, 2004, the Thousand Oaks City Council voted unanimously to make the Timber School City Landmark No. 12. A replica of the original 1889 school was completed in 1994 and is located at the grounds of the Stagecoach Inn Museum.[8][17]
Redevelopment plans
In June 2023, MBK Rental Living announced it has purchased the 7.1-acre site for the development of a 218-unit luxury multifamily community.. The project is a joint venture between MBK and Prime Life Technologies Corp., a Japan-based homebuilding company. The co-developers plan to break ground in Summer 2024, with the opening expected in late 2026. Upon completion, 12 percent of the units will be designated as affordable.[18]
In 2015, the developer, Daylight Thousand Oaks LLC, purchased the 10-acre (4.0ha) site from Conejo Valley Unified School District for $8.9 million.[7] After submitted and withdrawing a plan containing "two hotels and restaurants",[2] the developer submitted a plan containing 210 apartments (26 designated affordable) and a 120-room hotel in mid 2019 and won pre-approval and residential unit allocation under 1996's Measure E (which restricts the area's growth by establishing a maximum number of buildable units[19]) from the Thousand Oaks City Council.[7] The plan incorporates both the schoolhouse and auditorium as administrative offices and community rooms.[20] Council members remarked that the development would provide "needed housing" and hoped it might be able to lower rents.[7]
However, nearby residents have expressed disapproval of the current plan, citing parking issues, view-obstruction, and the project's density.[7] Currently, the developer is in the process of writing and submitting a formal application for the development.[21]
1 2 3 4 Sprankling, Miriam and Ruthanne Begun (2012). Tales and Voices of the Conejo. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 79, 81-83. ISBN0-9725233-6-7.
↑ Brant, Cherie (2006). Keys to the County: Touring Historic Ventura County. Ventura County Museum. Page 137. ISBN978-0972936149.
1 2 3 Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers. Windsor Publications. Pages 28,32,34 and 65. ISBN9780897812993.
↑ O’Brien, Tricia (2017). Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. Page 16. ISBN9781439661956.
↑ Sprankling, Miriam (2002). Discovering the Story of The Conejo Valley. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 57. ISBN0-9725233-0-8.
↑ Begun, Ruthanne and Miriam Sprankling (2004). A Visit to the Historic Stagecoach Inn Museum. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 10. ISBN0-9725233-2-4.
Thousand Oaks is a city in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the city of Los Angeles and 40 miles (64 km) from Downtown Los Angeles. The second-largest city in Ventura County, California, it is named after the many oak trees present in the area.
Newbury Park is a populated place and town in Ventura County, California, United States. Most of it lies within the western Thousand Oaks city limits, while unincorporated areas include Casa Conejo and Ventu Park. The town is located in Southern California around 8 miles (13 km) from the Pacific Ocean and has a mild year-round climate, scenic mountains, and environmental preservation. About 28,000 residents of Thousand Oaks reside in Newbury Park.
The Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, California, originally known as the Grand Union Hotel, was used as a resting area for people who traveled from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Besides a hotel and stagecoach stop, it has also been used as a post office, church, restaurant and military school. It is California Historical Landmark No. 659 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It played a major role in the development of the stage line transportation network in California. The hotel was also the first business venture in the Conejo Valley.
The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is a performing arts center and city hall for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. Across Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Gardens of the World, the site is considered the downtown core of the city. City hall includes Planning and Building Department, Public Works and other city departments. A park within the site is named for Richard Carpenter and his wife Mary.
The Oaks is a two-level indoor/outdoor, regional shopping mall located in Thousand Oaks, California. It is owned and managed by Macerich. Accessible from US Highway 101 midway between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, it is the largest shopping center in Ventura County. Over five million visit the mall each year. The mall features JCPenney, Macy's, Macy's Men's and Home Store, Nordstrom, in addition to a 14-screen dine-in AMC Theatres.
Borchard Community Park is a public park located in western Newbury Park, CA. Situated adjacent to both the Newbury Park High School and the Borchard Maintenance Shop, the park is situated at the corner of Reino Road and Borchard Road at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park encompasses 29 acres, which is home to various courts for recreational sports, fitness area, community rooms, a farm themed playground, picnic areas, several fields, and a skate park. The park was established by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD) in 1969. It has two volleyball courts, four tennis courts, two stages, three softball fields, a basketball court, barbecue grills, two bocci courts, a gymnasium, horseshoe pits, a kitchen, a soccer field, two playgrounds, and more.
Conejo Mountain is a 1,814-foot-high mountain (553 m) in Ventura County, California near Camarillo on the eastern boundary of the Oxnard Plain. At the western edge of the Conejo Valley, it is adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains. Crossing what was once a formidable barrier for travelers, U.S. Route 101 passes through the area on the steep Conejo Grade.
Ventu Park Open Space is a 141-acre open space area in Newbury Park, California. Its primary features are the Rosewood Trail leading to Angel Vista, a 1,603 ft peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. Parking for the Rosewood Trail is located at the Stagecoach Inn Park, across Lynn Road from the primary trailhead. The Rosewood Trail begins with oak woodland and crosses a creek at the canyon floor, before climbing up towards the steep Angel Vista Point. There are 360-degree panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, the Oxnard Plain, the California Channel Islands, Pacific Ocean, Point Mugu, Hidden Valley, as well as the Santa Monica-, Santa Susana- and Topa Topa Mountains.
Tarantula Hill, also known as Dawn’s Peak, is a 1,057-foot-high (322 m) peak in Thousand Oaks, California. It is located on a 45-acre (18 ha) open space and is operated by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA). Climbing Tarantula Hill is a steep 0.5-mile (0.80 km) trail; the trailhead is located at 287 West Gainsborough Road, across the road from the main entrance to Conejo Valley Botanic Garden. Atop the mountain there is a 360-degree panoramic view of the Conejo Valley, the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. There is also a fenced-in water reservoir located on top. It was once a popular hang-gliding site. It was once a volcanic mound but went dormant 16 million years ago.
Thousand Oaks Boulevard, previously known as Ventura Boulevard, is a street in the Conejo Valley, Ventura County. It stretches from Thousand Oaks through Westlake Village to Agoura Hills. In Thousand Oaks, it is located in the downtown area and was also known as Main Street until the Moorpark Freeway was completed in the 1960s. Today it remains one of the busiest commercial areas in Thousand Oaks, although many businesses are also located at The Oaks and Janss Marketplace. It is Thousand Oaks’ major east-west thoroughfare, connecting The Oaks mall on the west to Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in the east. It runs parallel to the Ventura Freeway. As of 2017, over 230 businesses are housed on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
Chumash Indian Museum is a Native American Interpretive Center in northeast Thousand Oaks, California. It is the site of a former Chumash village, known as Sap'wi. It is located in Oakbrook Regional Park, a 432-acre park which is home to a replica of a Chumash village and thousand year-old Chumash pictographs. The pictographs by nearby Birthing Cave are not open to the public, but can be observed on docent-led tours. Chumash people inhabited the village 10,000 years ago.
Reba Marie Hays Jeffries was one of the founders of Newbury Park Chamber of Commerce and later its first female president. She was a prominent supporter of Newbury Park cityhood and opposed the annexation by neighboring Thousand Oaks. She was also an outspoken supporter of preserving Stagecoach Inn and the Newbury Park Post Office when it was proposed that they be demolished.
Egbert Starr Newbury was the American founder of Newbury Park, California, and the first newspaper reporter in the Conejo Valley, located in Ventura County. Born and raised in Michigan, he moved to California in 1871 and settled in the Conejo Valley after buying land there in 1874, one of the first three European Americans to do so. He was appointed as the first postmaster in the Conejo Valley, and established the Newbury Park Post Office in 1875 at his house.
Norwegian Colony was a Norwegian community in Thousand Oaks, California, in the 1890s and early 20th century. They were among the first pioneers to settle in the Conejo Valley, and was perhaps the most successful colony in Ventura County at the time. The group of Norwegians had emigrated from Norway due to lack of land and widespread starvation, and had first settled in Santa Barbara in 1885. After being told about the cheap land in the Conejo Valley, they relocated to what became the Norwegian Colony in 1890-91. The colony consisted of five families: the Olsen, Andersen (Anderson), Pedersen (Pederson), Nilsen and Hansen families.
Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) is the park management agency for most of the parks in the Conejo Valley, California. Established in 1962, CRPD later established Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) in 1977 through a joint effort with the City of Thousand Oaks. COSCA administers over 15,000 acres of open space and 140 miles of trails, while CRPD administers over 50 community parks. In 2019, CRPD's annual operating budget was $20 million, of which about 70% comes from property taxes.
Newbury Road is the main street in Newbury Park, California, and runs parallel to the U.S. Route 101. The road is named for the town’s founder, Egbert Starr Newbury. The historic Newbury Park Post Office has had several locations on Newbury Road, including at the Stagecoach Plaza, a shopping complex with a name that implies the stagecoach heritage of the area. Stagecoach Plaza houses 14 restaurants and shops, and it is adjacent to additional shops on both sides.
Pederson House and Water Tower is located at the campus of California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, California, the former home of the Norwegian Colony. It was built by members of the Colony that settled here in 1890. The structure is designated Ventura County Historic Landmark No. 45 and Thousand Oaks Historical Landmark No. 3. It is a typical turn-of-the-century farmhouse constructed in 1913-14 for Lars and Karn Pederson, Norwegian immigrants and members of the Norwegian Colony, who had first settled in Conejo Valley in 1890. The house was erected at the present location of Ahmanson Science Center, but was later relocated 500 feet (150 m) to its current location at the corner of Regent Avenue and Faculty Street. When its original location was determined to become a science building, the university was quoted $125,000 in moving costs, and therefore planned to demolish the house. However, CLU alumni were able to raise the amount in one day and were successful in saving the house.
The Newbury Park Post Office was the first post office in the Conejo Valley, established on July 16, 1875, by the valley's first postmaster, Egbert Starr Newbury.
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