Historical Conejo Valley Pictures From Ed Lawrence
Friday, December 16, 2011 at 11:27PM (Originally Posted December 2008; Updated December 2011)
Ed Lawrence on December 16, 2011Ed Lawrence chronicled the growth of the Conejo Valley from 1958 to 2003 over a time that the population grew from 2,000 to 130,000. Ed's work provides an amazing perspective on what this area was like 50 years ago to today. In June 2011, Ed sold his collection to the Thousand Oaks Library and other local community entities to preserve, digitize and make his work available for generations to come.
I was fortunate to chat with Ed in person tonight at a dinner hosted by Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks. He is 87 years old and looks great. He is currently in town working on organizing his photo collection. In his presentation, Ed included his very first photo in the Conejo Valley, a shot of Moorpark Road in 1958. Let's just say it looked nothing like Moorpark Road looks today!
The picture below shows a whole lot of sheep on Moorpark Road near the intersection of Thousand Oaks Boulevard in 1965. I'm pretty sure what is taking place is that they are flocking to Starbucks. I could be wrong.
Photo courtesy of Ed Lawrence
Below is another of Ed's most well known shots. A shot of the Albertson Ranch that eventually became Westlake Village. The lone oak seen in the bottom right, around 350 years old at the time of the photo, was recently cut down because it was about to collapse.
Photo courtesy of Ed Lawrence and Thousand Oaks Library FoundationWe look forward to seeing much more of Ed Lawrence's work soon at the Thousand Oaks Library.
Reader Comments (10)
Photos are fantastic - never knew there were so many darn sheep in Conejo Valley!!!!!
I remember the sheep. Thousands of them would dot the hill sides. I have wonderful memories of the Conejo Valley in the 60's and 70's.
My dad's cousin (I guess my second cousin) is Arthur Gardner. He is the producer of the Rifleman and Big Valley and is turning 100 in June. For his 90th, I gave him a big print of the Rifleman set with sheep grazing that Ed Lawrence took. He broke down in tears of joy and that photo hangs to this day in his home in Beverly Hills. At the same time I bought a areal photo of my neighborhood before my house was built in 1967. I wanted to buy another photo for this 100th, but cannot find a place to buy one. I'm a long time resident of TO and own a business here as well. Wouldn't it be great if Mr. Lawrence's photos could be viewed and purchased on the web? If he is interested in setting up such site, I would love to help. Those photos are really wonderful and should be available for more people to enjoy.
David Grant
dgrant@tamartechnology.com
how do i get ahold of Ed?? Please advise!!!!
sue
I have been told that Ed has made a book of his photos, if so how do I purchase one?
Hi Bruce - I am not aware of a book. Perhaps if you contact the City of Thousand Oaks or the library that is purchasing his collection, they may know.
My Dad, Gerald Davis is the cowboy in the picture riding down the middle of Dodge City, and on the horse under the oak tree at the Rifleman movie set. We were so surprised to see these pictures on here, two of the pictures hang on my parent's wall. I would love to see a site that displays all of his photos, they bring back so many happy memories. I have a photo of Ed Lawrence and my Dad and some more snapshots Mr. Lawrence took that same day.
My Father Victor Silveria learned photography from Ed, last I heard he SOLD ALL RIGHTS to his photos to Thousand Oaks Library, maybe they can give some info if there is a book out there to purchase. He is a real nice man...
I grew up in T.O. My grand parents were Art and Charollet Meade. They owned Jocket Meades restarunt. Later my uncles built Meadowbrook Plunge. It was a wonderful beautiful safe place to grow up. My brother Don Gilbert went to Conejo school. Later we went to Moorpark High, it was a blast. I now live in Pittsburg Ks. and I miss California every day!
Thank you for taking the time and sharing this information with us. It was indeed very helpful and insightful while being straight forward and to the point.