Bakersfield
City
Top: Fox Theater, Padre Hotel; Middle: Beale Memorial Clock Tower, Bakersfield Californian Building, Kern County Museum; Bottom: aerial view of central Bakersfield
Flag Seal
Nickname:  "Nashville West"[1]
Location of Bakersfield in Kern County, California
Bakersfield Location within California Show map of California Bakersfield Location within the United States Show map of the United States Bakersfield Location within North America Show map of North America
Coordinates: 35°22′24″N 119°1′8″W / 35.37333°N 119.01889°W / 35.37333; -119.01889
Country	United States
State	California
County	Kern
Region	San Joaquin Valley
Incorporated	1873–1876[2]
Re-incorporated	January 11, 1898[3]
Named for	Thomas Baker
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Body	Bakersfield City Council
• Mayor	Karen K. Goh (R)[4]
Area [6]
• City	151.28 sq mi (391.80 km2)
• Land	149.81 sq mi (388.01 km2)
• Water	1.46 sq mi (3.79 km2)
Elevation [7]	404 ft (123 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	403,455
• Rank	48th in the United States 9th in California
• Density	2,700/sq mi (1,000/km2)
• Urban	570,235 (US: 76th)
• Urban density	4,316.0/sq mi (1,666.4/km2)
• Metro [8]	909,235 (US: 62nd)
Demonym(s)	Bakersfieldian, Bakersfield Californian, or Baker
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	93220, 93301–93309, 93311–93314, 93380–93390, 93399
Area code	661
FIPS code	06-03526
GNIS feature IDs	1652668, 2409774
Website	www.bakersfieldcity.us

Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about 151 sq mi (390 km²)^[9][10] near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region.

Bakersfield's population as of the 2020 Census was 403,455,^[11] making it the 48th-most populous city in the United States and the 9th-most populous in California. The Bakersfield–Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kern County, had a 2020 census population of 909,235,^[8] making it the 62nd largest metropolitan area in the United States.^[12]

Bakersfield is a significant hub for both agriculture and energy production. Kern County is California's most productive oil-producing county ^[13] and the fourth most productive agricultural county (by value) in the United States.^[14] Industries in and around Bakersfield include natural gas and other energy extraction, mining, petroleum refining, distribution, food processing, and corporate regional offices.^[15] The city is the birthplace of the country music genre known as the Bakersfield sound.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of Native American settlements dating back thousands of years. Upon Spanish arrival, present-day Bakersfield was inhabited by the Yowlumne, a Yokuts people.^[16] Yowlumne accounts indicate that the village of Woilu was situated in the bounds of the present city.^[17]

The Yokuts of the region lived in lodges^[18] along the branches of the Kern River delta and hunted antelope, tule elk, deer, bear, fish, and game birds.

In 1776, Spanish missionary Francisco Garcés became the first European to explore the area. Recording his May 1 arrival to a Yokuts village along the Kern River, immediately northeast of present Bakersfield, Garcés wrote,^[17]

The people of the rancheria had a great feast over my arrival, and having regaled me well I reciprocated to them all with tobacco and glass beads, congratulating myself on seeing the people so affable and affectionate.

Given the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, the Yokuts remained largely isolated from further contact until after the Mexican War of Independence, when Mexican settlers began to migrate to the area. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, settlers flooded into the San Joaquin Valley. In 1851, gold was discovered along the Kern River in the southern Sierra Nevada, and in 1865, oil was discovered in the valley.^[19] The Bakersfield area, once a tule reed-covered marshland, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers, who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to periodic flooding from the Kern River, which occupied what is now the downtown area, and experienced outbreaks of malaria.^[20]

Bakersfield is the fifth-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, with 53% of its population being Hispanic in 2020.^[21]

Founding

In 1861, disastrous floods swept away the original settlement founded in 1860 by the German-born Christian Bohna.^[22] Among those attracted to the area by the California gold rush was Thomas Baker, a lawyer and former colonel in the militia of Ohio, his home state.^[22][23] Baker moved to the banks of the Kern River in 1863,^[22] at what became known as Baker's Field, which became a stopover for travelers.^[24] By 1870, with a population of 600, what is now known as Bakersfield was becoming the principal town in Kern County.^[22]

In 1873, Bakersfield was officially incorporated as a city,^[22] and by 1874, it officially replaced the town of Havilah as the county seat.^[22] Alexander Mills was hired as the city marshal, a man one historian would describe as "... an old man by the time he became Marshal of Bakersfield, and he walked with a cane. But he was a Kentuckian, a handy man with a gun, and not lacking in initiative and resource when the mood moved him."^[25] Businessmen and others began to resent Mills, who was cantankerous and high-handed in his treatment of them. Wanting to fire him but fearing reprisals, they devised a scheme to disincorporate, effectively leaving him without an employer. According to local historian Gilbert Gia^[26] the city was also failing to collect the taxes it needed for services.^[27] In 1876,^[28] The city voted to disincorporate. For the next 22 years, a citizen's council managed the community.^[29]

By 1880, Bakersfield had a population of 801, with 250 of Chinese descent.^[30][31]

By 1890, it had a population of 2,626. Migration from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Southern California brought new residents, who were mostly employed by the oil industry. ^[30]

The city reincorporated on January 11, 1898.^[32]

Establishment of rail connection

In 1874, the Southern Pacific Railroad first arrived in Kern County. However, the train depot was placed nearly three miles east of Bakersfield due to a land dispute between the railroad and the town.^[33]

Desperate to get their own station, Bakersfield residents, sugar magnate Clause Spreckels, and small investors from all over the state ended up raising around $3,500,000 by January 17, 1895, to fund a second railroad to Bakersfield. By January 29, 1895, the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was born. Dubbed the "People's Railroad," the project was completed and warmly welcomed by the town with a parade attended by thousands on May 27, 1898, amidst the Spanish-American War and over 20 years after the completion of Southern Pacific's line. Competition from the new railroad caused Southern Pacific to lower its fares from $9.10 ($347.22 in 2023) to $6.90 ($263.27 in 2023) to match the new railroad's fare.^[34]

Eventually, a streetcar line would connect the Santa Fe station to the Southern Pacific station in Sumner (now East Bakersfield).^[33]

However, while the track had reached Bakersfield in 1898, a station would not be constructed until 1899 due to the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad being purchased by Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe. The new station was located at the intersection of 15th Street and F Street and was demolished in 1972.^[35] It was replaced with the present day Bakersfield Station built in 2000, near Truxtun Avenue and S Street.^[36]

1952 earthquake

On July 21, 1952, an earthquake struck at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time.^[37] The earthquake, which measured 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale and was felt from San Francisco to the Mexican border, destroyed the nearby communities of Tehachapi and Arvin. The earthquake's destructive force bent cotton fields into U shapes, slid a shoulder of the Tehachapi Mountains across all four lanes of the Ridge Route, collapsed a water tower, creating a flash flood, and destroyed the railroad tunnels in the mountain chain.^{[citation needed]} Bakersfield was somewhat spared, experiencing minor architectural damage without loss of life.

A large aftershock occurred on July 29, causing minor architectural damage but raising fears that the flow of the Friant-Kern Canal could be dangerously altered, potentially flooding the city and surrounding areas.

Aftershocks continued for the next month, and on August 22 at 3:42 pm, another earthquake, measured at 5.8, struck directly under the city's center in the most densely populated area of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Four people died in the aftershock, and many of the town's historic structures sustained heavy damage.

1970 to 2010

Between 1970 and 2010, Bakersfield grew 400% (from 70,000 to 347,483),^[38] making it one of the fastest-growing cities in California.^[14]

Bakersfield's close proximity to mountain passes, primarily the Tejon Pass on Interstate 5 between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Joaquin Valley, has made the city a regional transportation hub.^[39]

In 1990, Bakersfield was one of 10 U.S. communities to receive the All-America City Award from the National Civic League.

In 2010, the Bakersfield MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $29.466 billion, making it the 73rd-largest metropolitan economy in the United States.^[40]

Historic architecture and preservation

Bakersfield has several buildings and locations designated as historic sites at the national, state, and city levels. Five buildings have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), including the First Baptist Church (NRHP 1/2/79); Baker Street Library (NRHP 4/1/81) and Bakersfield Californian Building (NRHP 3/10/83). Four sites have been designated as California Historical Landmarks, including Garces Memorial Circle (designated in 1937) and the Colonel Thomas Baker Memorial (designated in 1944). In addition, 16 sites have been locally designated on the Bakersfield Register of Historic Places, including the Fox Theater (designated 8/24/94) and Kern County Chamber of Commerce Building (designated 3/12/08). With only 16 sites on its local register (compared to more than 300 sites designated by the City of Fresno), Bakersfield has been criticized for its lack of focus on historic preservation.^[41]

Geography

Bakersfield is located near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, with the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada just to the east. The city limits extend to the Sequoia National Forest, at the foot of the Greenhorn Mountain Range and the entrance to the Kern Canyon.^[42] To the south, the Tehachapi Mountains, rising more than a vertical mile, feature the historic Tejon Ranch. To the west is the Temblor Range, behind which is the Carrizo Plain National Monument and the San Andreas Fault. The Temblor Range is about 35 mi (56 km) from Bakersfield across the valley floor.^[43]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.6 sq mi (372 km²), of which 142.2 sq mi (368 km²) are land (98.99%) and 1.4 sq mi (3.6 km²) are covered by water (1.01%).

At the 2000 census, the city had a total area of 114.4 sq mi (296 km²), of which 113.1 sq mi (293 km²) were land (98.86%) and 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km²) were water-covered (1.14%).

Bakersfield is located about 100 mi (160 km) north of Los Angeles (about a 1-hour, 45-minute drive on I-5 and State Route 99) and about 280 mi (450 km) southeast of the state capital, Sacramento (about a 4-hour drive on State Route 99).

Hart Memorial Park is located in northeast Bakersfield along Alfred Harrell Highway.

Communities and neighborhoods

Bakersfield has historically referred to its regions by directional names. They include North Bakersfield, Northeast, Southeast, South Bakersfield, Southwest, and Northwest. East Bakersfield generally refers to the former town of Sumner (later renamed East Bakersfield). As a result, the Northeast wraps around East Bakersfield.^[44]

Climate

Bakersfield has a hot arid climate (Köppen BWh),^[45] with sweltering, dry summers and winters that consist of mild days with chilly/cold nights. Rainfall is low in the city, averaging only 6.36 inches (161.5 mm) annually, with most of it falling in the winter. Bakersfield averages about 191 clear days a year.^[46] Bakersfield's climate makes the region suitable for growing crops ranging from carrots to citrus and almonds.

Bakersfield summers are sweltering with extended stretches of hot weather and 112 days per year with high temperatures of 90 °F (32.2 °C)+ (on average between April 18 and October 13); in addition, there are 36 days with highs of 100 °F (37.8 °C)+ (on average between June 2 and September 19), and 0.9 days with highs of 110 °F (43.3 °C)+. The frequency of 110 °F (43.3 °C) readings can significantly vary each year, with the record being 17 days in 1931. The most recent year to have more than five days of 110 °F (43.3 °C)+ temperature readings was 2017, with seven days reaching or exceeding 110 °F (43.3 °C). Temperatures can be highly variable throughout the spring, summer and fall months every year, with triple digit temperature readings in May, and on rare occasion April, and October in addition to occasional high temperatures below 80 °F (26.7 °C) in June and September not being uncommon. The warmest month on record was July 2021, with an average temperature of 90 °F (32.2 °C). Except for occasional monsoons, which may bring light rain, typically no rain or almost no rain will fall from May to September.^[47]

Winters feature mild daytime temperatures and chilly/cold nights. Frost and/or dense fog usually occurs in winter with accompanying low visibility, causing many schools to have fog delays. Winters will usually produce a very dense layer of fog occasionally. Due to years of prolonged drought and the rapid development of many new neighborhoods around Bakersfield, the density of the fog and the number of "fog days" has steadily decreased. At the same time, areas outside the city still experience thick fog. The official time frame for tule fog to form is about five months long – various days from November 1 to March 31. Most noticeable in summer and winter, the urban heat island phenomenon can be observed throughout various neighborhoods in Bakersfield. Areas closer to downtown and along the 99 freeway corridor can experience warmer temperatures at night than neighborhoods on the edge of the city limits and rural Kern County areas, with temperature differences up to 7 °F (4 °C) between these areas at any given time.^[48] On average, ten mornings have freezing lows (on average between December 14 and January 24) annually, and the coldest night of the year typically bottoms out below 30 °F or −1.1 °C.^[47] On January 2, 2012, Bakersfield reached a record high of 82 °F (27.8 °C) for that year's winter.^{[citation needed]}

Spring and fall typically feature mild to warm daytime high temperatures with cool nighttime low temperatures, but temperatures and precipitation can vary significantly depending on the year. More than 50 percent of Bakersfield's annual precipitation falls between January and March, with the remainder falling during late fall and early winter.

Snow is rare on the valley floor, although frost may occur.^[49] The last snow fell on January 25, 1999, when the city received up to 6 inches (15 cm),^[50] with 3 inches (7.6 cm) at the airport.^[47] The record maximum temperature was 118 °F (47.8 °C) on July 28, 1908, and the record minimum temperature was 12 °F (−11.1 °C) on January 3, 1908.^[51][47] The most rainfall in one month was 5.82 inches (147.8 mm) in December 2010,^[52] and the maximum 24-hour rainfall was 2.29 inches (58.2 mm) on February 9, 1978. The wettest "rain year" has been from July 1997 to June 1998 with 14.73 inches (374.1 mm) and the driest from July 1933 to June 1934 with 2.26 inches (57.4 mm).^[47]