"The Roots of our Lives" Living Time Capsule at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

The Roots of our Lives "Living Time Capsule" located at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

The City of Thousand Oaks was incorporated in 1964 after a majority vote on September 29, 1964. Thirty years later, City leaders decided to do something very special by creating a "Living Time Capsule" designed to grow over the years.

In the front of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, on the east side behind the large Mary and Richard Carpenter Plaza Park sign, is "The Roots of our Lives," an area that contains the living time capsule.  A geocache led us here. Learn more about geocaching at this link.

Here is the inscription on a sign next to the "Living Time Capsule" bench:

"A time capsule is encased within the bench below the specially designed oak tree and mountainscape relief with the time capsule theme, "The Roots of our Lives." It is filled with documents and artifacts reflective of the City of Thousand Oaks' rich historical heritage, and current public and private activities.

It is called "A Living Time Capsule" for it was designed to grow as our City grows, with each succeeding generation contributing to the contents of four time capsule containers. This is accomplished through a unique program, whereby:

• A group of fifty ten year-old children were designated "Guardians of the Time Capsule" at the dedication on October 9, 1994. They will be back for the next opening of the time capsule when a new generation of "Guardians" will be chosen. This process will continue for the next three openings of the time capsule.

• At its dedication on October 9, 1994, two of the four time capsule containers were filled and sealed.

• The third container will be filled and sealed at the time capsule's opening on the City's 50th Anniversary, in the year 2014. This process will be repeated with the fourth container, on the City's 75th Anniversary, in the year 2039.

• A final opening of all four containers will take place on the City's 100th Anniversary, in the year 2064."

Time Capsule created by the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce was buried on November 20, 1989 and will be opened on November 20, 2039. Makes one ponder....will I be around to witness this?

Carpinteria and Indian Village of Mishopshnow California Registered Landmark No. 535

California State Registered Landmark No. 535 is located at the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History as well as at 1000 South Carpinteria Avenue (pictured above).

The landmark was registered on May 31, 1955 as "La Carpinteria" - The Carpenter's Shop.

The Chumash (which means "bead maker") have lived along the California coast for over 13,000 years. The Chumash Indian village of Mishopshnow, discovered by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo on August 14, 1542, was located 1/4 mile southwest of the monument.

Fray Juan Crespí of the Gaspar de Portolá Expedition named the village San Roque on August 17, 1769. Portolá's soldiers, observing the Indians building wooden canoes, called the village La Carpinteria.

These canoes, or tomol, came in handy for catching fish in deep waters. The advanced design of the tomol utilized the naturally occurring asphalt in the area to seal them. The tar still oozes today at Carpinteria State Beach at Tar Pits Park, one of five natural asphalt lake areas in the world.

Learn more about the Chumash at the Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks.

Aerial Views of Dos Vientos Ranch in Newbury Park in 1956

Aerial View of Dos Vientos Ranch in 1956 (Photo Credit: Howard D. Kelly, Kelly-Holiday Collection of Negatives and Photographs/Los Angeles Public Library)

According to several Oxnard Press-Courier articles in September/October 1958, evangelist O.L. Jaggers purchased the 5,415 acre Dos Vientos Ranch from M.S. Clark Enterprises on June 21, 1957 for $2.9 million, with the goal of creating the "World Church City."

According to a 1994 L.A. Times article, Jaggers and his wife Velma talked about making Dos Vientos (now part of Newbury Park/Thousand Oaks) a 26,000 resident city, "situated under a perpetually hovering 'glory cloud' that would emit a pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. Airliners would be diverted so passengers could witness the phenomenon."

After years of lawsuits brought against Jagger and his World Church by investors in the project, the land was acquired in 1965 by Louis Lesser Enterprises of Beverly Hills.

Another Aerial View of Dos Vientos Ranch in 1956 (Photo Credit: Howard D. Kelly, Kelly-Holiday Collection of Negatives and Photographs/Los Angeles Public Library)

The Thousand Oaks City Council approved development of Dos Vientos Ranch as a 2,350 home residential project in 1988 and construction began after years of planning and lawsuits in 1997. At the time, the land was owned by Courtly Homes Inc. and Operating Engineers Pension Trust Inc.

A 1997 Los Angeles Times article noted that Dos Vientos was the largest residential project ever in Newbury Park and the third-largest in the city's history. Dos Vientos is surrounded by two connecting roads that form a loop: Rancho Dos Vientos and Via Las Brisas. Lynn Road fronts the development on the south and Borchard Road serves as its main artery.

A more recent view of Dos Vientos from one of the many trails surrounding the area.

There are some nice hiking trails in Dos Vientos, including Sierra Vista Trail, Park View Trail, Vista Del Mar Trail, El Rincon, El Cerro and Las Brisas Trails, El Encanto Trail and Conejo Mountain Edison Road Trail.

Also located in Dos Vientos is The Village at Dos Vientos retail/business center, Dos Vientos Community Park and the newer Del Prado Playfield.

Aerial View of Central Thousand Oaks, Including Tarantula Hill, in 1957

Walt Dibblee opened his commercial studio in Ventura in 1949 and as Ventura County grew, the demand for aerial photography expanded. Walt bought a plane, learned to fly and for the next three decades photographed the cities of Ventura County from above.

The 1957 aerial shot above took place on a foggy day and captured Tarantula Hill on the right and what is now Conejo Community Park and the prominent Conejo Valley Botanic Garden hill in the foreground.

While we don't have an aerial shot of this scene from today, here's a look from the Los Robles Trail.

More recent view of Tarantula Hill from the Los Robles Trail East; The Oaks Mall in the foreground.

Walt's son Steve continues the tradition today with over 30 years of professional experience. Steve has shared some of Walt's work from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s at VenturaViews.com.

See other scenes from the smaller hill near Lynn Road and Gainsborough Road southwest of Tarantula Hill looking east and looking west.

The Golden Anniversary Oak in Front of Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

The Golden Anniversary Oak monument is located directly in front of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and City Hall at 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The monument, presented by Thousand Oaks City Council on June 17, 2014, is dedicated to the residents of Thousand Oaks as part of the city's 50th anniversary.

The Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) is symbolic of the community's vision to preserve and protect these majestic, indigenous trees.

NEARLY 50 THINGS TO DO IN THE CITY OF THOUSAND OAKS

Views in 1957 Looking West From Lynn and Gainsborough Roads in Thousand Oaks

In another post we showed a photo taken by Walt Dibblee from the mountain ridge at the northwest corner of what is now Lynn Road and Gainsborough Road in Thousand Oaks in 1957 facing east. This one faces the west, towards the Conejo Grade.

Gainsborough Road west of Lynn Road is Camino Dos Rios, which it appears the road in the photo above could possibly be, but is hard to tell. What is clear however is that back in 1957 there wasn't a lot of development in Thousand Oaks. Below is a photo taken from the same spot on a bit of a gloomy day in the Conejo Valley in February 2015. While the background scenery looks so much different, I felt a chill in my spine as I stood at the top of that hill on the same dirt, rock formations and vegetation, not to mention mountains in the distance, as Walt Diblee experienced 58 years ago.

See more of Dibblee's photographs from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s at VenturaViews.com where you also have the option of acquiring high-resolution prints of these blasts to the past. Thanks to Steve Dibblee for sharing some of his late father's work with us here on Conejo Valley Guide and at www.facebook.com/ConejoValleyGuide.