Area’s History Retold by Those Who Lived It

As Thousand Oaks continues to grow from a bucolic cow town to an upscale bedroom suburb, a little of the town’s history changes with every single-family home.

Fortunately for future generations, Tina Carlson is trying to capture as much of that past as possible before it disappears forever.

For the past three years, Carlson has worked on an oral history of the Conejo Valley, talking to those old-timers who are still around to preserve the story of the once-pristine, oak-studded land.

Now, along with her partner--the Thousand Oaks Library--Carlson is ready to share with the public many of the remarkable tales she has gathered.

The library, temporarily located on Willow Lane, now has dozens of photographs and transcripts available from Carlson’s interviews and research. And once the library returns to its original home on Janss Road after repairs later this year, it will offer many of those interviews on audiotape.

Carlson, who is just beginning her research on the city’s boom following incorporation in 1964, also wants to put her findings together in a book format, or possibly even a documentary. She is excited about sharing her work.

“The things that I’ve learned about Thousand Oaks are just amazing,” said Carlson, who initially became interested in local history after hearing the tales of her husband’s family, which has owned the Carlson Building Materials Co. on Thousand Oaks Boulevard since 1946.

“I want people to know we are preserving the history of the Conejo Valley, because it is disappearing,” she added. “Many of these folks are 80 to 90 years old, and if we don’t talk to them now, their memories are going to disappear with them.”

Among Carlson’s greatest interviews, she said, are her chats with Celia Hodencamp, who shared her knowledge about Thousand Oaks’ original businesses, and Cathy Goebel, whose family owned the legendary Jungleland amusement park.

Carlson visited Goebel in Oregon for her 90th birthday earlier this year, and recorded several hours of interviews on the history of Jungleland, part of which is the current site of the Civic Arts Plaza.

Sometimes, talking to the old-timers about the changes to the area they spent their lives in can be painful, Carlson said.

“It’s difficult emotionally to talk to these people,” she said. “They open their lives to you, and they know they’re telling one of the last stories they are going to tell.”

But the importance of the work and the enjoyable results are worthwhile to Carlson, the interviewees and hopefully, the public, she said.

“At one time, Thousand Oaks Boulevard was lined with saloons, but people always claim there were just as many churches as bars,” Carlson said. “It’s gone through quite a metamorphosis.”