Editing Agoura Hills, California (section)

==History==
The area was first settled by the [[Chumash people|Chumash]] Native Americans around 10,000 years ago.<ref>C. M. Hogan, 2008</ref> The [[Alta California]] (Upper California) coast was settled by [[Spaniard|Spanish]] [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] missionaries in the late 18th century.

In about 1800, Miguel Ortega was granted a Spanish grazing concession called [[Rancho Las Virgenes]] or El Rancho de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Las Virgenes. The grant was abandoned after Ortega's death in 1810, and José Maria Dominguez was given Rancho Las Virgenes as a Mexican land grant in 1834. [[Juan Francisco Reyes (soldier)#Jose Jacinto Reyes|Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes]] purchased the rancho from Dominguez in 1845. (The "Reyes Adobe" ranch headquarters sits today in central Agoura Hills, where it is part of the Reyes Adobe Museum built around 2004 and owned by the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laokay.com/halac/ReyesAdobe.htm|title=Reyes Adobe|date=February 15, 2012|access-date=March 20, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219125536/http://www.laokay.com/halac/ReyesAdobe.htm|archive-date=February 19, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>)

By 1900, the area was being used as a popular stage stop for travelers because of its natural spring.

In the 1920s, the community was briefly known as Picture City, as [[Paramount Pictures]] owned a ranch known as [[Movie ranch#Paramount Movie Ranch\|Paramount Ranch]] used for filming [[Western (genre)|Westerns]].<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Agoura Hills General Plan – 2035 Environmental Impact Report|publisher=City of Agoura Hills|date=February 2010 |access-date=January 16, 2018|archive-date=January 17, 2018|url-status=live|url=http://www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=8137|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117053315/http://www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=8137}}</ref> To obtain a post office of their own, the residents were required to choose a one-word name, and in 1927 chose the shortest name proposed: a misspelling of the last name of Pierre Agoure, a local Basque man and French immigrant who had settled in the area in 1871 to live the lifestyle of the Mexican rancher. Styling himself Don Pierre Agoure, he was a successful sheep herder.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.colapublib.org/history/agourahills/faq.html |title=Frequently Asked Questions: Agoura Hills |website=www.colapublib.org |access-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010504193325/http://www.colapublib.org/history/agourahills/faq.html |archive-date=May 4, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-26-me-1098-story.html |title=LOS ANGELES COUNTY'S 86 CITIES |last=RASMUSSEN |first=CECILIA |date=December 26, 1989 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 7, 2021 |quote=The name Agoura comes from the Pierre Agoure family, whose ranch encompassed 16,880 acres of Rancho Las Virgenes. }}</ref>

[[Image:agouraestate.jpg|left|thumb|200px|An estate in [[Old Agoura, Agoura Hills, California|Old Agoura]]]]

Agoura began to grow in the late 1960s after the [[Ventura Freeway]] section of [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route 101]] was built through the area, dividing the community into northern and southern sections. The first housing tracts in Agoura were [[Hillrise, Agoura Hills, California|Hillrise]], Liberty Canyon and [[Lake Lindero, Agoura Hills, California|Lake Lindero]]. Rapid growth continued during the 1970s when schools were built and much of downtown erected.

In 1982, the residents of the proposed city voted in favor of cityhood by a 68% majority. Agoura Hills became the 83rd City in [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]]. Elected to the first City Council were Mayor [[Fran Pavley]], Mayor Pro Tem Carol Sahm, Councilmembers Ernest Dynda, John Hood, and Vicky Leary.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Exploring Agoura Hills - Our Heritage |url=http://www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213084349/http://www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/history.html |archive-date=2006-12-13 |access-date= |website=www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us}}</ref> Incorporating a year after neighboring [[Westlake Village, California|Westlake Village]], the drive for cityhood in the region was largely based on public discontent with the county's failure to limit residential development of the area, motives that influenced [[Calabasas, California|Calabasas]] to follow suit in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=T. Christian |date=1998-12-27 |title=A Growth Plan Run Amok |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-27-mn-58049-story.html |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

The 1980s was a period of growth, with large land areas being subdivided into [[housing tract]]s. In the 1990s, businesses set up shop downtown including shops and restaurants.

[[Image:Agoura2.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Map showing Agoura Hills districts]]

In 1995, the [[murder of Jimmy Farris]] awakened the city to a rising [[drug]] problem and [[petty theft]] by its young. As a result, the city began sponsoring live music competitions and concerts in local parks.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In November 2018, the [[Woolsey Fire]] occurred during [[Santa Ana winds]] burning through the community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/05/03/cheseboro-bridge-destroyed-by-woolsey-fire-reopens-and-gets-renamed/|title=Cheseboro Bridge – Destroyed By Woolsey Fire – Reopens And Gets Renamed|date=May 3, 2019|website=CBS LA|language=en|access-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref> One victim was found in the ruins of an Agoura Hills home.<ref name=MercuryNews2018-11-14>{{cite news|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/14/woolsey-fire-death-toll-increases-to-3-lasd-investigating/|title=Woolsey fire death toll increases to 3, body found in charred Agoura Hills home|date=November 14, 2018|via=[[The Mercury News]]|newspaper=San Gabriel Valley Newspapers|last1=Gonzales|first1=Ruby|last2=Cain|first2=Josh|access-date=November 14, 2018}}</ref><ref name=NBCNews2018-11-14>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sierra-fire-erupts-near-los-angeles-bringing-another-challenge-first-n936116|title=Sierra Fire erupts near Los Angeles as death toll rises in Woolsey Fire: The latest death brings the statewide total to 51, which is mostly attributed to the 48 who have been confirmed killed in the Camp Fire 500 miles north in Butte County|date=November 14, 2018|work=[[NBC News]]|last=Li|first=David K.|access-date=November 14, 2018}}</ref>

In January 2025, many areas of Agoura Hills and neighboring Oak Park were under evacuation warnings due to the [[Kenneth Fire]].<ref>https://www.agourahillscity.org/Home/Components/News/News/3924/</ref>

===Music===
Agoura Hills is known regionally for its live music scene and originality in the [[nu metal]] scene, a fame that has given rise to such acts as [[Linkin Park]], [[Dub Thompson]], Skye Aspen, [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]], [[Hoobastank]], and [[Fort Minor]].

Agoura Hills is home to The Canyon Club, a concert venue that hosts touring acts such as [[Peter Frampton]], [[Smash Mouth]], [[Pat Benatar]], [[Cyndi Lauper]], [[REO Speedwagon]], [[X (American band)|X]], [[Steel Pulse]], [[The New Cars]], [[Asia (band)|Asia]], [[Boyz II Men]], [[Alan Parsons]], [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]], [[Bret Michaels]] and [[The Smithereens]].