Vintage Sign From The Lang Ranch on Display at Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks

Lang Ranch gate photo by Herb Noseworthy, 1967. (From the Thousand Oaks Library Special Collections "Conejo Through the Lens" collection.)

The nearly 2,600 acre Lang Ranch in the northeast section of Thousand Oaks was annexed into the city in 1968.  It is now home to open space, plenty of homes and the Chumash Indian Museum.

The Lang Ranch sign seen in the photo from approximately 1967 shown above is on display at the museum. 

The museum is open Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Admission price as of August 2017 is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for seniors 65+ and children under 12. There is no charge to walk the trails in the park.

Ventura County Courthouse (now San Buenaventura City Hall) on National Register of Historic Places

Ventura City Hall (aka San Buenaventura City Hall) was originally built as the Ventura County Courthouse in 1912. Located at 501 Poli Street on a hill overlooking the City of Ventura and the Pacific Ocean, it has a terra cotta exterior, copper sheathed dome and Italian marble foyer.

The Courthouse was in use until 1969, when it was deemed to be an earthquake risk. However, the City of Ventura purchased the building from the county and renovated and made structural improvements to it. The building has functioned as Ventura City Hall since 1974.

It was designated State of California Landmark No. 847 in December 1970 and named to the National Register of Historic Places in August 1971.

Ventura County Court House photo dated February 1971 (Photo Credit: City of Ventura).

The original architect of the Courthouse was Albert C. Martin, who also designed Grauman's Chinese Theater (now TLC Chinese Theatre) in Hollywood.

According to the City's website, the 200-foot frontage by 135 foot depth annex was completed in 1932, after five years of work supervised by architect Harold Burkett. Between the first and second floor windows of City Hall are 24 faces, each depicting whimsical friars' faces which serve as a historical reminder that the City of San Buenaventura was one of the nine original Mission towns founded by Father Junipero Serra and Franciscan friars in 1782.

According to the City's website, significant restoration to the building's terra cotta exterior took place in 1987-88 and 2004-5. In 1987-88, it took 16 months of steam cleaning to restore 3,600 terra cotta tiles on City Hall West, including replacing 959 damaged tiles. In 2005, the complex's entire façade was restored, repairing 10,000 blocks by sanding and repainting, replacing 100 damaged blocks and installing a water repellant over the walls and joints.

The end result is that this is one beautiful, can't miss, historic building in Ventura County. More on Ventura City Hall at www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1098/Ventura-City-Hall.

One of the 24 friars' faces on the building taken February 1971 (Photo Credit: City of Ventura).

Conejo Rambler and "Mister Buttons the Clown" at the 1963 Conejo Valley Days Parade

In Spring 1963, soon after the effort to incorporate the City of Conejo (subsequently Thousand Oaks) was initiated, the Conejo Valley Days Parade took place. Back then, Thousand Oaks was still an unincorporated town in Ventura County.

In 1963, at 2594 E. Ventura Boulevard (later changed to Thousand Oaks Boulevard) in Thousand Oaks, was Conejo Rambler. Today, Allen Motors occupies that spot. 

Seen in the photo below is what appears to be a 1963 Rambler Classic Cross Country station wagon. The sign on the car indicates it was loaned for use in the parade by Conejo Rambler. Sitting on top of that station wagon is "Mister Buttons the Clown." No word on whatever happened to Mister Buttons the Clown, who does not appear to be wearing a seat belt in this shot.

Titanic Exhibit at the Reagan Library May 27, 2017 to January 7, 2018

Original deck chair from the Titanic

Titanic at the Reagan Library is a fascinating look at Titanic, combining real artifacts with the real stories of the people on board the ill-fated ship. This new exhibit tells the story of the unsinkable ship in a way no museum has done before. Artifacts from passengers, dispersed over time, will be reunited in this exhibit for the first time in over 100 years.

This brand-new 10,000 square foot exhibition, reuniting hundreds of Titanic artifacts that have not been together since the ship’s fateful night in 1912 with material and artifacts from the 1984-1985 discovery of the Titanic as well as with items from the 1997 movie, is a first-of-its-kind exhibition not seen anywhere else before. The exhibition was made possible through the generous support and assistance of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Cedar Bay Entertainment, parent company of The Titanic Museums of Pigeon Forge, TN and Branson, MO, and Lightstorm Entertainment/20th Century Fox.

Found in 1985 during President Reagan’s administration, the Titanic quickly became a dive site for many different companies and explorers trying to get a piece of her history.  To protect the historic site and preserve it for generations, President Reagan issued the 1986 RMS Titanic Memorial Act to designate the wreck as an international maritime memorial.

None of the artifacts displayed in this exhibition were salvaged from the wreck itself – a sacred final resting place.

A historic collection of real artifacts from the Titanic alongside items used in the discovery of the famed ship, Titanic at the Reagan Library combines real stories and real artifacts from the real people onboard the ship. Dramatically set with props, sets and costumes from the blockbuster movie about the RMS Titanic, it is a must-see collaboration of secrets, cinema and artifacts!

Highlights include:

• “Alvin” – the titanium submersible sphere that brought Dr. Bob Ballard down to the wreckage of Titanic; the first such submersible to do so
• Sheet music for “Narcissus” which was found on the body of Wallace Hartley, the Titanic’s bandleader who refused to stop playing, even as the ship began to sink
• A deck chair from the Titanic, one of only eight known to exist, as well as the only known “widow’s seat” deck chair from the Carpathia
• The only known complete set of boarding documents and tickets from the Titanic
• John Jacob Astor IV’s pocket watch, found on his body days after the Titanic sank, and his wife’s life vest she wore to her safety
• The claim form from Margaret Brown (otherwise known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”) and the Egyptian Talisman she carried off the ship
• Marion Wright Woolcott’s wool coat; the one she wore when she escaped in lifeboat 9, then later wore to her wedding; then later cut strips of fabric from to make Bible covers for her three sons as they served overseas
• Pocket watch and pocket knife recovered from the body of Oscar Woody, one of the five mail clerks onboard the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic
• Original film footage of the Titanic’s maiden voyage and the Mackay-Bennett’s recovery mission
• Movie sets, props and costumes from the blockbuster movie about the RMS Titanic, including a full-size life boat and Rose and Cal’s Suite
• And so much more

This is not a traveling exhibition.  To see the story of the Titanic told in such a unique way, visitors must come to the Reagan Library.  Whether you are a fan of genuine history or larger-than-life Hollywood, this is truly an once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that sheds light on the Titanic in a first-ever way no museum has attempted before!

Learn more at www.reaganfoundation.org.

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

Steve Dibblee provided this shot taken by his father, Walt Dibblee, from the mountain ridge at the northwest corner of what is now Lynn Road and Gainsborough Road in Thousand Oaks sometime in the year 1957, seven years before the city was incorporated. This ridge is just southwest of nearby Tarantula Hill and the shot is facing east. So how about comparing it to a few recent shots looking east from Tarantula Hill.

I see a lot of oak trees and clouds in all of the photos but...just a wee bit more other things, like houses, roads, cars and such in the more recent pictures. :)

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.

The Smallest Post Office in the United States Used to Be in Wheeler Springs, Near Ojai

We were in Ojai for some activities and decided to drive up Maricopa Highway to check out the Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center for the first time. It is a cute little building that provides information about the Los Padres National Forest staffed with volunteers who sell maps, trail guides, Adventure Passes and other items. Located at 17017 Maricopa Highway, about eight miles from the "Y" intersection where if you continue right you are headed into Ojai. The Wheeler Gorge Campground is nearby.

More on local campgrounds in and around Ventura County at THIS LINK.

About a mile and a half before reaching the Visitor Center, at 16850 Maricopa Highway, we stopped at a small structure, shown above, that says "U.S.A.'s Smallest Post Office - Wheeler Springs, California."

There's quite a bit of history behind that structure and others in the area. According to OjaiHistory.com, the Wheeler Springs Post Office was installed by Webb Wilcox next to his Webb Wilcox Cafe in the mid-1930s after the Maricopa Highway was built, connecting Ojai to Kern County. The "glorified shack" was was designated by Ripley's Believe it or Not as the smallest Post Office in the U.S.A. until Wilcox died in 1962 and Wheeler Springs lost its status as a U.S. Post Office.

Webb Wilcox was the son-in-law of Wheeler Blumberg, who founded Wheeler's Hot Springs in 1891. Wheeler's Hot Spring Springs for awhile was a successful resort, with 14 guest cabins, swimming pool, fishing, camping, hot springs-fed swimming pool and more.

Blumberg went a bit crazy in May 1907, locking himself in a room and shooting holes through the walls. A posse was able to capture Blumberg, sedate him and place him in a straitjacket in a padded cell in Ventura. He continued screaming and straining until he died "from utter exhaustion" the next day at age 43. Wilcox, who previously married Blumberg's daughter, Etta, took control over the resort and renamed it Wheeler Hot Springs.

Wheeler Hot Springs went through a number of ownership changes over the years, including radio/TV personality Art Linkletter at one point, who opened a "Kiddie Land" attraction, who did not do well financially there. Over the decades, the resort survived and was rebuilt after multiple fires, and the "great flood of '69" but finally was completely closed down in 1999.

Visit THIS LINK on the OjaiHistory.com website for a much more detailed, fascinating account of Wheeler Hot Springs' ownership challenges over the years..

The Wheeler Hot Springs property is located at 16825 Maricopa Highway and according to Zillow.com was most recently sold in October 2016. It is privately owned and not open to the public but you will get a small glimpse of it as you drive by. According to the Zillow listing, Wheeler Hot Springs is 84.5 acres and has five known natural hot and cold mineral springs and a year-round creek. There is a large farmhouse occupying the center of the property.

Statue in Recognition of CLU Football Founding Father Bob Shoup at William Rolland Stadium

Many if not most residents of Thousand Oaks will visit California Lutheran University from time to time, be it for events open to the public at the university, sporting event, a visit to the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art, the community pool at Samuelson Aquatics Center, or Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, or just a walk around the campus.

Next to the Rolland Gallery in University Plaza is a statue dedicated to Bob Shoup, the founding father of CLU football. The bronze statue, "Champions," was unveiled on October 18, 2014 in homage to Shoup's Kingsmen football team that won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship in 1971.

Bob Shoup was CLU football coach from 1962 to 1989 as well as Athletic Director from 1969 to 1977. He was inducted into the NAIA 2008-2009 Hall of Fame. Shoup now lives in San Marcos, California.