Kern County, California History



Kern County Timeline

• 6,000 b.c. Yokut Indians settled the area now known as the San Joaquin Valley.
• 1776. Father Francisco Garces visits Kern County and the Kern River. He names it Rio de San Felipe.
  
• 1822. Kern County becomes part of Mexico.
  
• 1843-44. John C. Fremont expedition passes through.
  
• 1845-46. Second Fremont exedition passes through. Kern River is named after Edward Kern, topographer of the party.
  
• 1850. California becomes the 31st state.
  
• 1853. Gold rush starts on the upper Kern River.
  
• 1857. Huge earthquake, possibly an 8 on the Richter scale, hits the Fort Tejon area. It rings church bells in Los Angeles, snaps off the tops of trees and moves the earth 30 feet in places.
  
• 1860. Christain Bohna settles Kern Island, future site of Bakersfield.
  
• 1863. Col. Thomas Baker begins reclaiming swampland in Kern River Delta
  
• 1866. Kern County is established with the county seat at Havilah.
  
• 1867. Col. Thomas Baker builds a toll road from Bakersfield to Havilah.
  
• 1874. County seat moved to Bakersfield.
  
• 1875. Town of North Side founded in Oildale area.
  
• 1883. Borax first hauled by 20-mule team from Death Valley to Mojave.
  
• 1889. Great Bakersfield Fire destroys most of downtown.
  
• 1899. Kern River oilfield discovered.
  
• 1903. Notorious gunman James McKinney killed in Bakersfield.
  
• 1926. Great Buena Vista Lake mouse plague.
  
• 1942. First U.S. jet flies at Muroc.
  
• 1949. Chuck Yeager exceeds speed of sound at Muroc.
  
• 1952. Earthquakes hit Bakersfield and Tehachapi. Two died in the 5.8 magnitude Bakersfield quake and 11 died in the 7.7 Tehachapi temblor, one of the largest ever recorded in California.
  
  
  
  Kern County Historical Landmarks
  
  

  Name	Address	Listed date
  Bakersfield California Building	1707 Eye St. Bakersfield	03/10/1983
  Bandit Rock	SW of Inyokern near jct. of CA 14 and 178	10/31/1975
  Errea House	311 S. Green St. Tehachapi, CA	nominated May 29, 1997
  First Baptist Church	1200 Truxtun Ave. Bakersfield	01/02/1979
  Fort Tejon	3 mi. NW of Lebec	05/06/1971
  Fort, The	Ash and Lincoln Sts. Taft	07/22/1981
  Green Hotel	530 James St. Shafter	03/16/1989
  Gross, Courtlandt, House	18600 Courtlandt Ct. Tehachapi	03/22/1987
  Jastro Building	1800 19th St. Bakersfield	09/22/1983
  Kern Branch, Beale Memorial Library	1400 Baker St. Bakersfield	04/01/1981
  Last Chance Canyon	Address Restricted Johannesburg	12/05/1972
  Long Canyon Village Site	Address Restricted South Lake	04/14/1980
  Rogers Dry Lake	Edwards Air Force Base Mojave Desert	10/03/1985
  Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Depot	150 Central Valley Hwy. Shafter	01/19/1982
  Tevis Block	1712 19th St. Bakersfield	03/29/1984
  Walker Pass	60 mi. NE of Bakersfield on CA 178	10/15/1966
  Weedpatch Camp	8305 Sunset Blvd. Bakersfield	01/22/1996

  
  
  Kern County History Links
  
  
• US Highway 66 Old Photos of Los Angeles and Kern Counties
  
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  This page is currently under construction, check it often. Last Updated Saturday, December 12, 1998.

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