Pre-American history The area of present-day Canoga Park was the homeland of
Native Americans in the
Tongva-Fernandeño and
Chumash-Venturaño tribes, that lived in the Simi Hills and along to the tributaries of the
Los Angeles River. They traded with the north Valley
Tataviam-Fernandeño people. Native American civilizations inhabited the Valley for an estimated 8,000 years. Their culture left the
Burro Flats Painted Cave nearby. From 1797 to 1846, the area was part of
Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). After the
Mexican War of Independence from Spain the 'future Canoga Park' land became part of
Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando. In 1845, a land grant for the separate and historically rich
Rancho El Escorpión was issued by Governor
Pío Pico to three Chumash people, Odón Eusebia, his brother-in-law Urbano, and Urbano's son Mañuel. It was located in the area west of Fallbrook Avenue and later called Platt Ranch.
American history In 1863, the syndicate San Fernando Homestead Association led by
Isaac Lankershim and
Isaac Van Nuys purchased the southern half of the
historic San Fernando Valley. They established seven wheat ranch operations and were the first to ship wheat to Europe from California. In 1869, Alfred Workman acquired the westernmost ranch, a wheat farm in future Canoga Park
(for more: See Landmarks section below). Eucalyptus trees were introduced into the San Fernando Valley by Albert Workman, who imported seedlings from his native Australia and planted them on the Workman Ranch. In time, they spread through the Canoga Park area ranches, farms and beyond. It has been said that these trees are the parents of all eucalyptus trees in Southern California. The entire south San Fernando Valley, from
Roscoe Boulevard south to the hills, with certain exceptions, were to be subdivided in anticipation of the
Los Angeles aqueduct's completion in 1913. The purchasers of the land included
Harry Chandler and
Harrison Gray Otis of the
Los Angeles Times,
Moses Sherman (a
Los Angeles Pacific Railroad streetcar line builder), and
Hobart Johnstone Whitley, an all purpose real estate developer who, from a start in the
Land Rush of 1889 in Oklahoma to platting out 140 towns, including
Hollywood. The area was originally named
Owensmouth by Los Angeles Suburban Home Company by general manager Hobart Johnstone Whitley as a sales tactic in that the town would be the new mouth of the Owens River, after the
Los Angeles Aqueduct would be completed the next year. The town was founded on March 30, 1912, and the Suburban Home Company contracted with the
Janss Investment Company, to sell properties. A pre-development scheme brought
Pacific Electric streetcars and an all purpose highway (Sherman Way) out all the way from Hollywood through
Cahuenga Pass, through the previously subdivided
Van Nuys (1911). Highlighting the "opening day barbecue" was the display of the "Owensmouth Baby", a racecar that could go up and down the paved Sherman Way at the incredible speed of 35 mph. Owensmouth, as the junior San Fernando Valley city to Van Nuys, promoted itself with the "baby" motif—using storks in their advertisement. The "baby city" of the Valley remained a very small community. The lack of an independent water supply made annexation to the City of Los Angeles inevitable, and on February 26, 1917, it joined with its larger neighbor. The name was changed to
Canoga Park in 1931, thanks to the efforts of local civic leader Mary Logan Orcutt. Eventually, the area's zoning was rural/agricultural and its industry was small farms involved in the production of fruits, vegetables, and melons, some livestock, horses, a movie/television studio, and a stunt location. The Canoga Park Airstrip occupied the area now known as "Warner Center" (as shown on the street map 1955 Thomas Guide).
Recent history In 1955,
Rocketdyne, then a division of
North American Aviation (NAA), moved into the area and built its main manufacturing facility in Canoga Park. The facility became a major employer along with the
Atomics International and
Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) divisions of NAA. Other
aerospace companies followed: including
Thompson Ramo Wooldridge-TRW,
Hughes Aircraft,
Rockwell International,
Boeing, and
Teledyne. Small machine shops and other ancillary businesses also sprang up to service the aerospace industry. The Rocketdyne facility was in the end operated by
Aerojet Rocketdyne, who moved out of Canoga Park in 2014. Demolition and site clearing of the former Rocketdyne facility in Canoga Park commenced in August 2016. The Santa Susana Field Lab property has also been closed and will be undergoing an extensive environmental cleanup, and become an open-space park. In 1987, much of the western district of Canoga Park was renamed
West Hills. On June 25, 2005, Canoga Park was named an
All-America City. The use of toxic chemicals like
trichloroethylene and
tetrachloroethene as cleaning solvents during production by aerospace and defense contractor companies in their Canoga Park industrial facilities led to groundwater pollution on their sites and across the neighborhood. Since 2003, environmental testing on a former
Litton Industries, later
Northrop Grumman, industrial site revealed unsafe levels of toxic chemicals on the site; 2007 tests further revealed that toxins had spread to an area beyond the site. In 2021, a petition for a class action against Northrop Grumman on behalf of affected residents was filed. The petition sought monetary compensation for losses in property value and called on Northrop Grumman to mitigate the contamination, alleging that the chemicals had leaked from the site and contaminated groundwater under 3,200 properties in an area about 2.4 miles long and 1.8 miles wide and that the corporation failed to properly contain or remediate the damage after it acquired the site in 2001. The corporation argued that they had complied with the California State Water Resources Control Board and that the Board had approved their actions. The Water Board confirmed that they were reviewing the report and responded about 7,000 individuals in residences and businesses within 500 feet of the site were notified. The Board also reported that they had notified some 4,000 Canoga Park residents about exposure to toxic chemicals from the former Litton Industries site. ==Geography==