Kern County Historic Happenings

Gordon's Ferry: The Forgotten Crossing That Built Kern County Long before Bakersfield had bridges, highways, or even a permanent settlement, travelers heading north or south faced one daunting obstacle—the Kern River. Their journey depended on a small ferry operated by Major Aneas B. Gordon, whose river crossing became one of the most important transportation links in early California. In this...

Welcome to  Kern County Historical Happenings , where we explore the people, places, and stories that shaped the communities we call home. Today we’re traveling back to a time when Bakersfield was a railroad town, when troop trains rolled through the city during World War II, and when a small café beside the tracks served hot coffee and hamburgers to soldiers on their way to war. This is the story...

Today, we’re taking a long look at one of Kern County’s most beloved places… Hart Park. If you’ve ever driven through its winding roads, passed the old lake, the stone monuments, the zoo remnants, or the palm-lined entrance… you’ve seen a place layered with memory. But Hart Park did not simply appear as the quiet parkland we know today. It was built piece by piece — through civic ambition, county...

In April of 1923, a quiet irrigation canal in  Bakersfield  became the center of a tragic and unsettling discovery. What began as a routine night for a canal watchman quickly turned into a case that would grip the community and leave investigators searching for answers. As the story unfolded, questions of identity, circumstance, and responsibility began to surface—revealing a darker side of life i...