Approximately 15 miles 24 km from the city of Los Angeles and 40 miles 64 km 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 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 s and s. The population was , at the census , up from , at the census.
In the s came talks of coming up with a name for the specific area of Thousand Oaks. A local name contest was held, where year-old Bobby Harrington's name suggestion won: Thousand Oaks. A petition was signed by enough residents to put Thousand Oaks on the ballot. Chumash people were the first to inhabit the area, [ 10 ] settling there over 10, years ago.
Some of the artifacts discovered in Wildwood include stone tools, shell beads and arrowheads. A cave containing several swordfish and cupules pictographs is located here.
These were populated 2, years ago and had a population of β in each village. 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. The region's recorded history dates to , when Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed at Point Mugu and claimed the land for Spain. The Spaniards and indigenous Chumash clashed numerous times in disputes over land.
