Louie Goebel and Friend
Posted By thecircusblog on June 3, 2009
This picture was taken when Louie first started his Lion Farm long before World Jungle Compound or Jungleland was created. Louie is seen here proudly holding one of his lions. His farm was located in Thousand Oaks , Calif. Late 1930’s.
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thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
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Louis Goebel started Goebel’s Lion Farm in 1923, in Thousand Oaks, and opened to the public in 1926. There was some confusion about the Farm being listed as in Camarillo, because that is where they got their mail. Thousand Oaks was still a rural village, and had no Post Office–so Goebel petitioned the government and got them their first one. It was in the old Oakdale Market, the barn-red grocery store at Thousand Oaks Blvd. and Crescent Way. In my day, it had moved across the street, and the Oakdale by then was all grocery store. The building still stands, now a home decor shop. Goebel also contributed the fledgling village its first fire engine. The Oaks is now a city of some 170,000. Aside from local Special Collections Librarian Jeanette Berard and those of us who were veterans of the old Compound, virtually no one today remembers Louis and Kathleen Goebel, Jungleland, or any of us who were there.