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History The Yokuts Indians were the first people to settle in the San Joaquin Valley, some 8000 years ago. One source cites the English transliteration of the Yokuts place name for the Bakersfield area as Woy Loo. In 1776, the Spanish missionary Father Francisco Garcés was the first European to reach the area. In 1851, gold was discovered in the Kern River in the southern Sierra mountains, and, in 1865, the first discovery of oil was made in the valley. The Bakersfield area, a tule reed infested malarial swamp, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to flooding from the Kern River delta, which occupied what is now the downtown area. Founding In 1863, Colonel Thomas Baker, formerly of the Iowa militia, moved into the Kern Island area to champion the cause of reclamation, settling in a log cabin near what is now Truxtun Avenue and R Street. A former California State Senator who had experience as a surveyor, he had been recommended to survey and lay out the town of Visalia (in Tulare County) in the late 1850's. His reputation as one of the few government officials who was not corrupted by big business preceded him and served him well in the Kern Island area, where he soon also developed a reputation for hospitality. He had grown a field of alfalfa near the present day Amtrak Station for travelers to feed their horses. It was well known throughout California and even advertised in San Francisco newspapers that travelers should be sure to visit Colonel Baker and use his field of alfalfa to feed their stock. Anyone who came to "Baker's field" was sure to be treated as a long lost friend. As more families moved to the area, Baker subsidized development out of his own pocket, by constructing public sawmills free of charge, helping other pioneers drain their land, and surveying. Following a flood on the Kern River which caused the re-routing of the river channel to the north, Baker was asked to plot out a new town. After this was done, at a founding ceremony in 1869, the residents surprised Baker by naming the town Bakersfield in his honor. Baker died of Typhoid Fever in 1872 and is buried at Union Cemetery. Government The Kern County seat, established in 1866 in the mountain town of Havilah, was moved to Bakersfield in 1874, where it has stayed. Bakersfield has been incorporated twice in its history, first in 1874, disbanding in 1876 in order to fire an unruly City Marshall. The city was incorporated again in 1898. Currently Bakersfield is governed by a City Council and Manager system, with a mayor acting as the presiding officer. Growth In 1899, the Kern River Oilfield was discovered at the Discovery Well by two brothers digging with shovels in a pit along the Kern River, about one-mile east of Gordon's Ferry, a ferry that took Overland Stages across the Kern River. The oilfield is still active today and is one of the nation's highest yielding fields of all time. The town continued to grow, reaching a population of about 300 by 1869, and 800 by 1871. Major floods in 1867 and 1893, and the fires of 1889 and 1919 did not reverse this trend. In 1874, the Southern Pacific Railroad came into the area, but was not well-received because of high rates. On May 27, 1898, the San Joaquin Valley Railroad (popularly known as "The People's Railroad"), now the Santa Fe Railroad, arrived in Bakersfield, giving a great boost to the population. In the 1930s, the Great Plains drought and dust storms (commonly called the Dust Bowl) brought a large influx of refugees from Arkansas and Oklahoma, who went to work mostly in agriculture and the oil industries. The overwhelming numbers of Dust Bowl refugees was a source of considerable social strife. In later years, agricultural work in the area has mostly been conducted by Mexican migrant workers. The city's population grew slowly but steadily after World War II. Advances in steam-injection of oil wells rejuvenated the Kern County oilfields, many of which had been producing oil well before World War I. Migration from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Southern California brought new residents, this time filling job openings in the oil industry. By 1980, Bakersfield's population was about 105,000. Within the next 20 years, Bakersfield's population exploded, topping 250,000 by 2000. Bakersfield's reputation as a "cow town" had seemed to protect it from people wanting to live here, even though the city has never had a cattle industry. Moreover, what kept people away was the extreme heat in the summer, dense Tule fog in the winter, and a reputation for racism. Throughout it all, Bakersfield was and is considered the West's capital of country music - Nashville West. Once the price of homes and the violence and gangs increased in larger cities nearby, that notion seemed to vanish overnight as hundreds of families chose the area for its affordability, strong family oriented community, and its relative proximity to Southern California. Oil is still important to the local economy, but even as the area's oil boom begins to dwindle, Bakersfield continues to grow, known for its friendliness toward economic expansion, with a highly diversified business community. Education Two of the earliest schools founded in Kern County were Mrs. Thomas Baker's school, opened in 1863 at the Baker home near present day 19th and N Streets, and a Catholic parochial school opened by Reverend Father Daniel Dade in 1865 in Havilah (then county seat). In 1880, Norris School was established. The land was donated by William Norris, a local farmer. Thirteen to twenty students were taught in one classroom during the 1880s. In 1915, the Norris School was rebuilt to accommodate a growing number of students. The school was torn down and reconstructed in 1950, and once again in 1980. Today the Norris School District is growing very steadily thanks to extremely fast growing home developments in northwest Bakersfield, and is recognized for its quality students and education. However, it is still smaller than the massive Bakersfield City School District (BCSD), the state's largest elementary school district. The BCSD serves most of the schools on the east side of town. Other Bakersfield area elementary school districts include Panama-Buena Vista, Rosedale, and Fruitvale. The first high school in Bakersfield, Kern County Union High School, opened in 1893. It was renamed Bakersfield High School after World War II. The site at California Avenue and F Street is also the first campus of Bakersfield College, which was established in 1913 and relocated in 1956 to its current location overlooking the Panorama Bluffs in northeast Bakersfield. Bakersfield College has a yearly enrollment of between 12,000 and 14,000 students. Since World War II, in order to serve a growing baby-boomer population, the Kern High School District has steadily expanded to its current eighteen campuses today with more than 35,000 students, making it the largest high school district in the state. In 1965, a university in the California State University system was founded in Bakersfield. California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) today has some 7,700 students, with a special focus on business and administration. It is an NCAA Division II sports powerhouse in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with some sports, including wrestling (PAC-10), competing in Division I. CSUB is currently attempting to join the Big West Conference and become a Division I athletic school. Despite the efforts to improve college-going rates in the community, Bakersfield still lags in that area. According to a March 2006 study by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Bakersfield metropolitan area is one of the lowest college-educated communities in the nation. Calculated from 2000 US Census figures, the study shows that only 13.5 percent of adults in the Bakersfield MSA have a bachelor's degree or higher. This contrasts sharply with California and U.S. figures at 28 percent and 24 percent respectively. Historic buildings The great earthquake of July 21, 1952 changed the appearance of Bakersfield, promoting the flat, sprawling style of building that dominates the city today. The quake, centered near Bear Mountain, was the second largest quake in California history. It leveled most of downtown Bakersfield's historic Victorian brick businesses and hotels (including the once famous Southern Hotel), historic Chinatown area on the eastern side of downtown, and turn of the century buildings, including the once ornate County Court Building. Very few historic buildings exist today as a result. Famous residents Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren was raised in Bakersfield, and would later go on to decide such cases as Brown v. Board of Education and the Miranda decision. Before being appointed Chief Justice he was California Attorney General and then California Governor. Earl Warren Junior High School, and Warren Hall (on the campus of his alma mater, Bakersfield High School) are named in his honor. Bakersfield Panthers superstar offensive lineman James Walters (Football player) is from Bakersfield President George W. Bush and President George H.W. Bush lived in Bakersfield for a year while George H.W. Bush was selling oil field equipment in 1947 immediately following World War II. Rock band Korn is from Bakersfield, as is country star Rick Reno Stevens. The 2005 Superbowl champion Pittsburg Steelers linebacker Joey Porter resides in Bakersfield. Hip Hop music producer of Savage Traxs K Will Tha Savage still lives in Bakersfield. Country legends Merle Haggard, a Bakersfield native, and Buck Owens, who settled there in 1950, are both associated with the city. Sources Geography
Highways Bakersfield is the second largest city in the United States (after Fresno) that is not directly linked to an Interstate highway, although Interstate 5 runs just west of it and to its south at a southeast/northwest angle, while another north-south freeway, State Highway 99, (formerly U.S. 99), bisects the city. Recent years have brought increasing interest in extending Interstate 40 to Bakersfield, and on to I-5, from its western terminus at Interstate 15 in Barstow. Such an extension would almost certainly incorporate the existing State Highway 58 through the Mojave Desert and Tehachapi Mountains, much of which is already at interstate standards. Highway 58 from Highway 99 in Bakersfield east over the Tehachapi Summit and all the way to Boron at the Kern/San Bernardino County Line is a 4-lane interstate quality freeway. West of Bakersfield it is a two-lane highway that twists and turns over the barren Carizzo Plain and Coastal Ranges to U.S. 101 ending at Santa Margarita just north of San Luis Obispo at the base of the treacherous Cuesta Grade. The original Interstate Highway plans called for I-40 to extend west via the current Highway 58 route all the way to U.S. 101 and the City of San Luis Obispo. Lack of funding stopped the completion of this project. Currently the major road to the coast from Bakersfield is State Highway 46, a narrow and dangerous two-lane highway that is known by locals as "Blood Alley" for the numerous traffic wrecks and deaths that occur on it from I-5 west at Lost Hills to Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County at U.S. 101. Bakersfield, and Fresno for that matter, are both in desperate need of a four lane expressway or freeway to connect their respective cities to the coast. The Central Coast of San Luis Obispo County, with its wineries and beaches, is a favorite holiday destination of San Joaquin Valley residents and subsequently creates a large amount of vacationer traffic to go with large semi-truck traffic on the narrow two-lane Highway 46 (and two-lane Highway 41 for Fresno area residents before it meets with Highway 46 at Cholame). It is along this same highway that famous actor James Dean was killed at the Highway 46/41 junction near Cholame just inside the San Luis Obispo County line from Kern County. Currently there are numerous freeway alignments set aside for the metropolitan Bakersfield area. These include three east-west connections on the north, central, and south parts of town that would link Highways 58, 178, the future downtown "Centennial Corridor," and the future Kern River Westside Parkway to each other and/or Highway 99, with a north-south extension on the western edge of Bakersfield west of Rosedale connecting the southern, central, and northern alignments. There are long term plans to link the northern east-west alignment (along 7th Standard Road) to I-5 and re-designating it as Highway 58. Congressional funding has been secured for this 25-35 year project and construction is scheduled to begin by 2010. Several problems have arisen with the planned alignments. Many people are upset as their newly built homes are on some of these alignments and will have their homes demolished when construction begins. Also, some developers are deliberately not informing homeowners that some, or all of their property is on a freeway alignment. Another is the planned downtown "Centennial Corridor" elevated freeway that will follow the Southern/Union Pacific Tracks downtown. Bakersfield High School has asked that the freeway be moved away from the 113-year old historic downtown campus. School officials feel a noisy, busy freeway will distract students and offer a safety and health hazard. Recently, designers agreed to the change. There is also political discussion of re-designating Highway 99 into an Interstate Freeway and re-naming it Interstate 7 or Interstate 9 (the Interstate Highway Commission wants it to be I-7, CalTrans wants it to be I-9). This Interstate designation would take over the current Highway 99 alignment from Mettler at the I-5 junction south of Bakersfield and connect to State Highway 4 in Stockton (an 8-lane freeway through downtown Stockton that connects I-5 to S.R. 99). Highway 4 from I-5 to Highway 99 would then also be re-designated as an Interstate.. Currently, Highway 99 through Bakersfield and Kern County is a major Freeway with six-lanes through the county areas and eight-lanes through the metropolitan area. The Bakersfield section of the highway is the busiest part of Highway 99 in the entire state. It is a very important local thoroughfare. The current freeway alignment was completed in 1962. The next year the U.S. Highway system abandoned its funding of Highway 99 and it has been a state funded highway since 1964. The original alignment of historic U.S. 99 (today known as Business 99 and State Highway 204) lasted from 1928-to-1962, followed Union Avenue from south of Bakersfield north to 21st Street to the east of downtown where it splits from Union Avenue to the northwest and follows Golden State Avenue across the Kern River where it meets up with the current freeway again. It also had a previous alignment before the Union/Golden State Avenue alignment. This basically followed downtown streets and included the main street of Chester Avenue across the Kern River to Oildale, then west along Norris Road to the Southern/Union Pacific tracks to where the current alignment runs. The old road bed of U.S. 99 can be seen in places still, much of it is still used as surface streets, some for parking, and some is even just abandoned in place. State Highway 99 currently extends from Mettler south of Bakersfield at the I-5 junction, north to Sacramento whereupon it becomes a two-lane highway (with the exception of the Chico area where it is a freeway) all the way to Red Bluff where it meets up again with I-5. The former US 99 extended from the Imperial Valley at Calexico, through Los Angeles, over the "Ridge Route" into the San Joaquin Valley, north to the Sacramento Valley where it split into two parts (99E and 99W), meeting again at Red Bluff, over the Siskiyous and on into Oregon and Washington to the Canadian border. Many parts of I-5 replaced Highway 99 when it opened in the late 1970's. Highway 99 has been referred to as the Main Street of California and life along it has been glorified in movies such as "The Grapes of Wrath (film)," "Bound for Glory," "American Graffiti," and "The Best of Times (film)." Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 247,057 people, 83,441 households, and 60,995 families residing in the city. The population density was 843.4/km² (2,184.4/mi²). There were 88,262 housing units at an average density of 301.3/km² (780.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.87% White, 9.16% Black or African American, 1.40% Native American, 4.33% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 18.68% from other races, and 4.43% from two or more races. 32.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 83,441 households out of which 42.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.41. In the city the population was spread out with 32.7% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $39,982, and the median income for a family was $45,556. Males had a median income of $38,834 versus $27,148 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,678. About 14.6% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over. Housing & development Currently the hop-scotch" pattern of housing developments is pushing the city limits and zones of future annexation further and further west towards I-5 and the base of the Temblor Range. It is very possible that the City of Bakersfield's limits could stretch from the base of the Sierra Nevada range across the 25-30 mile width of the San Joaquin Valley floor to the Temblor Range within the next 25 years. This is creating political issues concerning unnecessary urban sprawl, commuter problems on two-lane country roads, the best farmland in the world being paved over, and the actual geographical center of the city being taken away to the west from the traditional downtown core. The current distance between city limit boundaries in the east to the western area of future annexation is about 25 miles across with the western edge only about 7 miles from I-5. It is only about 12 miles from north-to-south. From the downtown area, Highway 99 and I-5 are about 15 miles apart along Stockdale Highway (20 miles apart along Rosedale Highway/Hwy. 58 in the north, 12 miles apart along Panama Road in the south). East of Highway 99 the city limits extend about 13 miles to the Kern Canyon along Highway 178. West of Highway 99 the city limits extend about 13 miles to the west with housing developments that are located to the west of Allen Road set for annexation. This continual expansion west has many thinking the City of Bakersfield's government will have to yield its growth to a new city being incorporated to govern this area of fast growth to the west. An attempt similar to this was made in the 1990's when a developer attempted to build a city of 60,000 residents along Highway 166 east of Lake Buena Vista and south of Bakersfield called San Emigdio. The only reason this city was not built was because the developer could never secure water rights. Had San Emigdio been built, it would surely be currently vying for the annexation of the lands west of Bakersfield and would have become a major political player in the new housing developments that Bakersfield is currently attempting to annex in this area of the west side of the valley. The City of Shafter, a small farming town to the northwest of Bakersfield, is already attempting to stymie Bakersfield's rabid appetite for growth and has filed suit to limit the northern sphere of influence of Bakersfield. Shafter has also annexed large pieces of farmland to its east and south to ensure that Bakersfield would not slowly creep up on it and eventually envelope its southern area. Shafter's city limits extend across farmland that is some 8-10 miles away from its actual town and has a relatively small population. This is an example of a small town looking out for itself and trying to ensure its future against the rapid growth that Bakersfield is experiencing. Should a new city be incorporated in the area between Bakersfield and I-5 it would certainly change the way growth is addressed and may be the only way to limit this sprawl across the prime farmland of the San Joaquin Valley. As of now, the County of Kern is encouraging it in unincorporated areas and the City of Bakersfield is quick to annex this area as soon as it is built. There is not another small city or town like Shafter that can stop the growth of Bakersfield to the west all the way across I-5 to the Elk Hills Oilfield. Bakersfield is dominated in the east by a large bluff and plateau that used to be the delta to the Kern River. 20,000 years ago the Kern River flowed atop this bluff until a large earthquake changed its course to the north of this delta. Currently this bluff has been developed for the last 60 years with houses moving to the east towards the Rio Bravo and Kern Canyon area. The steep north facing edge of the bluff provides spectacular views of the foothills, mountains, and Kern River. It also has provided heated controversy as the city attempts to preserve as best as it can for the public good the bluffs from over-development and the flattening of the tops of hills and filling in of dales ruining the appeal of the foothills that make up the bluff. City leaders recognize the necessity to develop the foothills east of Bakersfield but want to temper that with keeping what makes the area unique still around. Leaders and residents alike also fear the rapid growth will have developers placing short-term profits over long-term effects of urban sprawl on this unique area, effects like erosion and landslides such as those the Los Angeles area experience when rains cause homes to fall apart and crash down a hillside. Bakersfield desperately wants to keep its identity and not be similar to the crammed housing developments that are typical of the Santa Clarita Valley in Los Angeles County along I-5. The general fear among residents is having Bakersfield become a bedroom community to Los Angeles and become a rubber stamp community controlled by Los Angeles like so many other cities and towns in and around Los Angeles have become. Bakersfield has the backing of its citizens in this matter and this has drawn the ire of powerful housing developers based in the larger cities of the state resulting in political smear ad campaigns against city officials that have no basis in fact. Politics & society Bakersfield is a politically conservative city with complicated racial and socio-economic equity issues. Despite conservative "family values," Bakersfield continues to have an above-average teen birth rate and below-average literacy rate. Historically, it has a large population that can trace its family roots to the western exodus of agrarian families from the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. These refugees were commonly called the derogatory term "Okies" because so many of them hailed from Oklahoma, which was hard hit by the Dust Bowl. Many "Okies" also hailed from Texas and Arkansas (""Arkies""). John Steinbeck's masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath is an accurate illustration of their plight. A strong sense of family ties among friends and families exists among descendents of these immigrants and is one of the city's strong suits. It is a common reference to say that you will always find someone who knows someone who knows you when you live in Bakersfield. More recently, Bakersfield and Kern County farm workers and field workers have hailed from Mexico, South America, and Central America. Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Movement, or UFW, was born just 30 miles north of Bakersfield, in Delano. In addition to a strong work ethic, the worker-founders of Bakersfield, "Okie" or Mexican, have in common a lack of formal education that is rooted in poverty. Bakersfield's farm workers have had to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps," leaving little time for "betterment" through college. Despite this, many "Okie" families have overcome economic hardship and successfully settled in the community; the most well-known example of this was country singer and businessman Buck Owens, native of Sherman, TX. Current farm and field workers are striving to establish their families, as well, through hard manual labor. Drug use, especially methamphetamine, is a big local problem, a bane on older and newer neighborhoods, and tied to problems of poverty, lack of education, illegal street gangs and crime. As the population has increased, so has gang activity and drug-related crime in Bakersfield. Local law enforcement plays a key role in the community's response to these issues and has the strong support of the local voting populace. Local amenities Bakersfield is home to California State University, Bakersfield, founded in 1965, a Division II sports powerhouse, especially in basketball, and Bakersfield College, a Junior College football powerhouse with a 19,000 seat on-campus stadium, and one of the nation's oldest junior colleges founded in 1913. Bakersfield's main airport is Meadows Field Airport. In 2005, the airport opened a new "William M. Thomas" passenger terminal (named after the retiring Republican congressional representative), replacing the long outdated facility with modern design and comfort. The increasing number of metropolitan amenities is due to the city's fast paced growth. Entertainment Bakersfield has a large Basque population in and around the city, and many of Bakersfield's oldest and most historic restaurants are Basque. These include Woolgrowers, Maitia's, Noriega's, Pyrenees, Sandrini's (located in a 110 year-old basement), Benji's, Narducci's, and Italian Restaurant Luigi's. Hollywood celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Annette Funicello, Beau Bridges, and sports star Wayne Gretzky have been spotted in these eateries. Bakersfield also has an influential Chinese community and a growing Mexican population that makes up a large portion of the population. Bakersfield hosts the largest Scottish Games and Clan Gathering in California the first weekend of every April. Bakersfield is home to one of the nation's largest and oldest farming co-ops, the California Cotton Cooperative Association, commonly called CalCot, founded in 1927. Bakersfield is home to the largest carrot producing operations in the world, Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms. As is true of many cities in the Central Valley of California, a substantial number of Bakersfield residents have ancestors who migrated to the area from the Great Plains, Arkansas and Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. In John Steinbeck's historical novel The Grapes of Wrath, Bakersfield is one of the locations that the protagonists pass through. Jack Kerouac's On the Road deals with the conditions of migrant workers in this part of California. Cultural activities In the 1950s, local country musicians such as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart helped invent a rock and roll-influenced country music style called the Bakersfield sound. Their influence was so great that Bakersfield is second only to Nashville, Tennessee, in country music fame. Bakersfield continues to produce famous country music artists. Despite its country music fame, Bakersfield has also turned out its fair share of hard rock, most notably KoЯn, Burning Image and Adema. The Christian community can also enjoy national performing Gospel artists, such as Flicker Records recording artist Royal Ruckus and Southern Gospel artist The Lighthouse Boys. Off-road recreation is one of the more popular recreational activities among residents. Bakersfield has always been home to a large population of Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts. The California Department of Motor Vehicles reports as of May 2001, there are over 18,000 OHVs registered in Kern County Kern Off Highway Vehicle Association. On May 26, 2005, the City of Bakersfield and the State of California Parks department obtained an assignable option using a grant from the OHV Trust funds to purchase a prospective 11,000 acre (45 km²) site for an OHV park. Site Located for State Vehicular Recreation Area"Ruth Coleman, Director of California State Parks State remarked, This project responds to the needs of the Bakersfield community for increased recreation opportunities and will provide a cornerstone for the Central Valley Strategy". Friends of Kern Open Space state that there are several educational programs available to train youth in proper OHV operation, including National 4-H and the California Off-Road PALS program. Friends of Kern Open Space. The Kern County Museum, which boasts an extensive collection of regional artifacts, is located on Chester Avenue, just north of Downtown Bakersfield. The Museum includes the "Black Gold: The Oil Experience" oil exhibit, a hands on modern approach at showing how oil is mined, The Lori Brock Children's Discovery Museum, a hand's on children's museum, and a country music display on the influential "Bakersfield Sound" style of country music. Music wise, Bakersfield historically is known as "Nashville West" for its influential "Bakersfield Sound" style of country music that was heavy with dual Fender Telecaster electric guitars, fiddles, and a big drum beat developed in the late 1950's and early 1960's at local honky-tonk bars, most notably the Blackboard Cafe that was formerly located at 3601 Chester Avenue. Most of these honky-tonks have been demolished over the years but Trout's Bar on North Chester Avenue in Oildale is noted as one of the last real honky-tonks in the Bakersfield area and features many local music acts, many of whom played in Nashville in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. "Buck Owens and the Buckaroos" and Merle Haggard and the Strangers were the biggest leaders in this rebellious musical style that changed country music to what it is today. Known as a rebel within country music and doing things his way, Buck Owens, a Texas native came from a dirt poor farming family. The Owens family became refugees from the drought and devastation of the Dust Bowl and settled in Phoenix, Arizona picking cotton. After establishing himself as a talent on Phoenix radio programs, Owens came to the thriving honky-tonks of Bakersfield in 1951 and quickly established himself a dominant talent. After his success as a performer, which included more Sports Sports has been, and continues to be a large part of the Bakersfield lifestyle and culture. Bakersfield is home to the Bakersfield Blaze, a minor league baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers that plays in the Single-A level California League and who play at the historical Sam Lynn Ballpark, built in 1941. In downtown Bakersfield there is the major civic center, the Rabobank Arena, originally known as Bakersfield Centennial Garden built in 1998. This 10,000 seat double-decked arena with luxury suites hosts, an af2 team, the Bakersfield Blitz, and an ECHL AA-level hockey team, the Bakersfield Condors, originally known as the Bakersfield Fog when the team joined the West Coast Hockey League in the mid-1990s. The WCHL later joined the East Coast Hockey League. Rabobank Arena also hosts the men's and women's basketball teams of CSU Bakersfield, who compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in Division II of the NCAA. The arena also currently hosts the California State High School Wrestling Championships every March and will be the new home of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Developmental League in the Fall of 2006. The arena has also hosted the prestigious and now defunct "Bakersfield Business Conference," as well as the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Basketball Championships, televised WWE pro wrestling, L.A. Lakers pre-season basketball, L.A. Kings pre-season hockey, and other notable events and concerts with major performers have been hosted at the arena. Adjacent to the arena is the Rabobank Convention Center, formerly known as the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, built in the early 1960's. The 3,000 seat convention center is home to the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and is known for having one of the largest stages in the world. It hosted hockey games on the stage until the arena was built in 1998. Adjacent to the convention center is the Holiday Inn Select Hotel, a modern hotel that offers further event hosting capabilities with accessibility to the convention center and arena. The city is also home to the Premier Development League soccer team the Bakersfield Brigade who play at Bakersfield Christian High School Stadium. Football is easily the city's biggest passion from the youth levels, to Friday Night High School football, to a prolific junior college program, and even producing NFL stars (Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker, Joey Porter is from Bakersfield). Bakersfield follows and supports football with a passion. The most notable football teams are the Bakersfield High School team (originally called Kern County Union High School) which started competing in 1893, and Bakersfield Junior College, which plays at 19,000 seat Memorial Stadium, built in 1955. Bakersfield High has won more section (33) and state (7) titles than any other California school and has more total wins than any other California school. It has produced numerous NFL players, most notably Hall of Famer and New York Giants legend and Monday Night Football announcer Frank Gifford (who played college ball at Bakersfield College and U.S.C.). Bakersfield College is part of the Western States Conference and has been a football power for over 50 years. It has won four J.C. national championships (the last in 1988), plays in the largest on-campus J.C. stadium in the nation, and is regarded for its integrity and ability to produce players who advance to the next level. The Bakersfield area has 17 high schools, many of which have also produced college and NFL stars. Current NFL stars David Carr of the Houston Texans graduated from Stockdale High School, and Joey Porter of the Pittsburgh Steelers graduated from Foothill High School. Motor Sports is Bakersfield's second-biggest following with many past and current racers learning their fare on the streets of Bakersfield. These include four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, his brother famous off-road racer Roger Mears, and Roger's son, Casey Mears of NASCAR fame all call Bakersfield their home town. Casey actually played football at Stockdale High with David Carr. NASCAR Busch Series Champion and Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick grew up in Oildale where he won a section wrestling championship at North High before he became a track champ at the now torn down Mesa Marin Raceway in northeast Bakersfield. NHRA champion Bruce Sarver called Bakersfield home before his suicide in 2005. There are several Bakersfield racers in the lower level of NASCAR's developmental circuits, most notably in the West Series and the Grand National. Bakersfield was also home to one of the most important events in the history of drag racing. The famous March Meets are held at the Famoso Drag Strip (officially known as the Auto Club Famoso Raceway), formerly a World War II training auxiliary air strip, and was started by the car club "The Bakersfield Smokers." The historical event at the March Meets included the legendary Swamp Rat machine with driver "Big Daddy" Don Garlits coming out west from Florida to prove himself to the west coasters who claim to have invented drag racing. This event in the 1950's cast legitimacy on the fledgling NHRA. Today, the March Meets is a nostalgic car drag racing event held every March (weather pending). Mesa Marin Raceway was located in the foothills of northeast Bakersfield at the intersection of Highway 178 and 184. It opened in 1977 to over 10,000 plus fans and closed to become a housing development in the Fall of 2005. It was a high-banked 1/2 mile oval aspahlt speedway that featured NASCAR racing events, most notably the West series and the Grand National. It was also the very first track to host a NASCAR Craftsman Super Trucks race, a nationally televised race in 1995. This honor was given to the track because track owner Marion Collins invented the Super Truck for racing that NASCAR adopted. The track has hosted numerous current NASCAR stars that include and are not limited to Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Casey Mears. With the track's demise in 2005 comes hope for a greater track to surpass Mesa Marin. Currently plans for a 1/2 mile high-banked tri-oval is in the works. This track will feature luxury suites, modern facilities, SAFER barriers, and Nextel Cup quality surfacing and lighting. It will be located west of Bakersfield on an almond orchard owned by famous airplane racer Bill DeStefani at the intersection of I-5 and Highway 43 (Enos Lane) near the Kern River. Marion Collins and his family is set to oversee and run the facility with the DeStefanis putting up most of the capital. Plans call for it to be the best short-track on the west coast and best track in all of California, second only to the two-mile long California Speedway in Fontana. The Bakersfield Speedway is a 1/3-mile banked clay oval track in Oildale. It hosts weekly Saturday Night racing, most notably the World of Outlaws. This speedway is the inspiration to a Buck Owens song titled "Beer Can Hill." Several hundred dirt fans attend every week. The Bakersfield Speedway is currently trying to expand as a nationally significant track by hosting races that feature out-of-state drivers. Some notable NASCAR drivers have raced at this track. Bakersfield has been a stop for the Ben Hogan and Nike Golf Tours. It also hosts PGA qualifying events and NCAA Division II regionals and tournaments. Top quality courses include the private Seven Oaks Country Club, the Bakersfield Country Club, the Rio Bravo Country Club, and the public River Lakes Golf Club. Bakersfield also hosts a large amount of amateur sporting events of many different kinds. Shooting competitions are held at the Five Dogs Creek Range. The Race Across America (RAAM) has been won numerous times by Bakersfield bicyclists. The southern Sierra's offer whitewater, rock climbing, mountain biking, and snow skiing opportunities. The first ever boat drags were held at Lake Ming and gave rise to the National Hot Boat Association (NHBA). The Kern County Rugby Club plays against numerous amateur rugby clubs in California. National water ski competitions are held in the area. Numerous amateur boxers come from Bakersfield with former champion Reuban Castillo being a town favorite. AYSO soccer is well established in the area and offers leagues throughout the town. The Southwest and Northwest Baseball Associations each offer competitive summer league baseball for youth up to high school. These teams have advanced and won state and world series titles. The Bakersfield Racquet Club hosts the Kern County Amateur Tennis Tournament and was once home to the Davis Cup. The Bakersfield Shoe Crew hosts several nationally acclaimed horse shoe tournaments at Beach Park. The McMurtrey Aquatics Center is an Olympic quality sized pool that hosts high school events. Numerous volleyball clubs have won several national championships in different age groups. The Kern County Soccer Park is the largest soccer facility in California and hosts several tournaments. Sister Cities Bakersfield has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): Trivia Arts & entertainment Law & politics Science & medicine Sports Government Arts & culture Entertainment & commerce Professional Amateur Recreation & nature Media Universities & colleges Public schools Private schools Service organizations | |||||||||||
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