Moorpark Turns 30

Everyone knows the nation celebrated its "birthday" July 4, but did you know another anniversary took place this week?

The city of Moorpark turned 30 on July 1. Odd as it may seem because so much was going on in our small corner of the world before that, the city itself was only incorporated in 1983.

To mark the city's birthday, we thought it would be fun to see how much you know about Moorpark. Can you answer these 10 questions without the help of the all-powerful Google search? (We promise not even one has anything to do with our name spelled backwards—because that never gets old ... or anything.

1.  Where does Moorpark's name come from? Bonus points if you know who named the area (Hint: There's a street AND a park named after him.)
2. About how many people live in Moorpark? 
3. Who is our mayor? Bonus: name the entire city council!.
4. If Moorpark was incorporated in 1987, when did Moorpark College open?
5. What cool and very old thing was found in the Moorpark foothills while a housing development was under construction in 2005?
6. What was the name of the tiger that escaped and roamed Moorpark the same year?
7. What anniversary is the Moorpark library celebrating this year?
8. What was Moorpark one of the first cities in the WORLD to do on Nov. 12, 1957? Bonus: For how long did we do it?
9. About how many square miles is the city?
10. What's Moorpark High's mascot? Bonus: What's Moorpark College's mascot?

1. According to the city's website, Robert Pointdexter—who in 1887was granted title to the present site of Moorpark—named the area after the Moorpark apricot that grew throughout the valley.
2. Moorpark's population is 34,421.
3. Our mayor is Janice Parvin. Mark Van Dam is the mayor pro tem and David Pollock, Roseann Mikos and Keith Millhouse are council members.
4. Moorpark College opened in 1967, long before Moorpark was incorporated.
5. The remains of a southern mammoth was found in 2005.
6. The escaped tiger's name was Tuffy.
7. The Moorpark library is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
8. For about an hour in November of 1957, Moorpark was powered by nuclear energy.
9. Moorpark is 12.44 square miles.
10. Moorpark High is the Musketeers and the college is the Raiders.