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Moorpark, California

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Location of Moorpark, California
Location of Moorpark, California

Moorpark is a city located in Ventura County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 31,415.

History

The valley where Moorpark is located was originally inhabited by the Chumash. The area was part of the large Rancho Simi land grant given in 1795 to the Pico brothers (Javier, Patricio, and Miguel) by Governor Diego de Borica of Alta California.

Moorpark was founded in 1887 by Robert W. Poindexter, who named it after a cultivar of apricot which grew in the area. The town grew after the 1904 completion of a 7369-foot tunnel through the Santa Susana Mountains, which allowed the Southern Pacific Railroad to establish a depot there, a depot which lasted until 1964.

In 1963, Moorpark College was founded.

It was incorporated as a city on July 1, 1983.

Moorpark High School has won the Academic Decathlon twice in the past 6 years.

In March 2005, the fairly complete remains (about 75%) of an unusually old mammoth, possibly the rare Southern mammoth (Mammuthus meridionalis), were discovered in the foothills of Moorpark at the site of a housing development.

In 2006, the Moorpark city council seceded from the Ventura County library system to create their own city library system, much like nearby Thousand Oaks.

On February 28, 2006 a housing proposal, North Park Village, which would have added 1,680 houses on 3,586 acres in the north-east area of the city, was defeated by a landslide in a city election.

Geography

Moorpark is located at 34°16'52" North, 118°52'25" West (34.281056, -118.873561)Template:GR.

The city can be reached easily by routes 23 and 118 (both of which end their freeway sections in the city), and by Metrolink train service.

The city can be divided into several areas:

  • The city is divided by the Arroyo Simi river, and generally the area north of the river, containing Old Town Moorpark and Campus Park, is somewhat older than the area south of the river.
  • "Old Town Moorpark" is the area surrounding High Street, and is the historic center of the city. A feature of the dowtown area are the pepper trees that line High Street, planted by Robert Poindexter who was responsible for the plotting and mapping of the town. This area also features unique shops and restaurants, including architecture, live theatre at the Theatre on High Street, authentic hoagie / sub / philly steak sandwiches at the The Hub Hoagies 'n more, the Cactus Patch for an old time breakfast, and more eateries.
  • The Peach Hill and Mountain Meadows neighborhoods are south of the Arroyo Simi, and most of the homes here were built within the last 30 years. Moorpark High School is in this area, as well as many parks, including the Arroyo Vista Park and Recreation Center, the city's largest park. This area contains a large part of the city's population.
  • Campus Park is a more prosperous area that is dominated by Moorpark College. An additional substantial development is occurring to the north of the existing city, in the area of the Moorpark Country Club.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.9 km² (19.3 mi²). 49.3 km² (19.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.30% water.

Mass Transit

  • The city is serviced by Amtrak intercity and Metrolink commuter rail, with a train station located on High Street, in the center of the city.
  • The city of Moorpark has a bus transit system, known as the Moorpark City Transit.

Roads

  • There is a large, high freeway bridge which transitions between the 23 and the 118 freeways in Moorpark, and the end of southbound side of the bridge has been known by some as "the bump", as the ending of the bridge has a large dip in it.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 31,416 people in the city, organized into 8,994 households and 7,698 families. The population density is 637.7/km² (1,651.9/mi²). There are 9,094 housing units at an average density of 184.6/km² (478.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 74.42% White, 5.63% Asian, 1.52% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 13.95% from other races, and 3.87% from two or more races. 27.81% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 8,994 households out of which 54.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.0% are married couples living together, 9.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 14.4% are non-families. 9.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.49 and the average family size is 3.71.

In the city the population is spread out with 34.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 4.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $76,642, and the median income for a family is $78,909. Males have a median income of $55,535 versus $35,790 for females. The per capita income for the city is $25,383. 7.0% of the population and 4.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 8.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Trivia

  • "Moorpark" spelled backwards is "Kraproom." Some of the youth in Moorpark call it that.
  • The city's slogan is "Life can be this good".
  • The Moorpark High School mascot is the Moorpark Musketeers.
  • Moorpark's Little League won the Western Regional Championships in 1996.
  • Moorpark High School won third place in the state Academic Decathlon in the school year 2005-2006.
  • In February 2005, a tiger named Tuffy who escaped from a local residence was shot and killed in one of Moorpark's parks. This created much local uproar, because the Animal Control officers used a gun instead of a Tranquilizer to kill the tiger. Candlelight Vigil memorials were held for the late Tuffy. As of 2006 the family who owned the beast was on trial for not having permits and proper caging for Tuffy.
  • A few events are held in the Moorpark area during the year, most notably Moorpark "Country Days", a single day in late September or early October, American Civil War battle reenactments in early-November, an "Apricot Festival", usually in the Spring or Summer, and an annual fireworks celebration on July 3 every year. The July 3 fireworks are popular around the rest of Ventura County, as people can go to the Moorpark fireworks on the 3, and see their own local city's fireworks on July 4. The rock band Jefferson Starship played at a previous Moorpark 3 July fireworks celebration.
  • In 1957 Moorpark, became the first town in the world to receive its entire energy supply from a nuclear power plant, launching California's "Age of Atomic Energy."[citation needed]
  • Because of the odd fumes released by Egg City, Moorpark was allegedly the Fly capital of the world. However this information has been spread by word of mouth and is possibly false [citation needed].
  • A neighborhood nearby Moorpark High School is known by many area residents as "Candy Cane Lane", as the residents in the neighborhood elaborately decorate their homes for Christmas.
  • Moorpark has had 3 fires in the last 4 years
  • Airsoft teams Foxhound and Arroyo Elite are based in Moorpark
  • Moorpark High School's football team lost 51 consecutive games to Carpinteria High School, a national record that ended in 1997 en route to the school's first CIF championship. The two teams have not played since.
  • Police in Moorpark are prejudice to young teens in the city. There have been multiple accounts of harrasment. This is mainly due to the over population of cops with the ratio of citizens.[citation needed]

Haunted Moorpark

Moorpark has not been without its own share of ghost stories. Below are two of Moorpark's most notorious hauntings.

  • There is an alleged "Gravity Hill", north of Moorpark, near California State Route 23. Legend says that in the 1940s a School Bus broke down at the bottom of a hill, and the children got out of the bus to help push it back up the hill. A tractor from a nearby farm ran over some of the children by accident and killed them, so today, if you put your car in neutral at the bottom of the hill, the ghosts of the children will push you back up the hill. (This is a dangerous thing to do, as the hill is near a rock quarry, and there is a chance of getting hit by a semi truck carrying the rocks)[citation needed].
  • On Moorpark's historical High Street, the High Street Theatre and the surrounding area is alleged to be haunted by a young woman who was killed there, who can be seen in the upper story (Of the theatre), and a worker who was killed during the construction of the theatre, who is often seen watching the plays from backstage.

Egg City

In 1961, Julius Goldman founded Egg City, which was a massive chicken farm north of Moorpark, with many chicken coops spread over acres of concrete with millions of chickens in them. The main building had a giant chicken statue on the top of it. Local residents were somewhat irked by the farm, when the smell of it wafted to Moorpark on windy days. The business suffered a setback in 1972, when more than 3 million chickens were slaughtered because of the threat of Newcastle Disease. The farm finally closed in 1996. In early December 2006, a wildfire destroyed the dilapidated remains of Egg City.

See also

website

Template:Mapit-US-cityscale

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