Visiting Kern County Museum, Bakersfield CA

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Kern County lies north adjacent to Los Angeles County. The county is comprised of mountains, Mojave Desert and southern tip of California’s fertile Central Valley. The area’s economy is based on heavy agriculture and being one of the richest oil fields in the country. You see pumps pumping away. With a population of nearly 400,000, Bakersfield is county seat and home to Kern County Museum. The museum is headquartered inside the former Chamber of Commerce building constructed in 1928. The 1904 Beale Memorial clock tower stands in front. The majority of the tower has been reconstructed due to extensive damage by the 1952 Tehachapi earthquake. The term “museum” is a misnomer as there is little in the way of artifacts and exhibits. The 16-acre facility is essentially a collection of preserved vintage buildings. The lobby displays a few items such as vintage toys. Off in a side room is the Bakersfield Sound gallery. Oddly enough favorite son Buck Owens is not featured. There was no clarification is these are permanent or rotating displays. On view are boots and jacket worn by Merle Haggard, stage outfit by Bonnie Owens (Buck’s first wife later Haggard’s wife) and Red Simpson’s banjo. There are displays and memorabilia focusing on Bakersfield Sound pioneers Fuzzy Owen and Lewis Talley, Tommy Collins (early influence on Buck) and Maddox Bros and Rose. Going outside onto the grounds is akin to stepping back in time to a small town from 100 years ago. A wonderful job has been performed saving, moving and restoring countless old buildings to the site. Each structure has an information marker with vintage photos and history to provide a sense of what was. There is the 1892 Kern Valley Bank, 1882 school, 1910 Kern City French bakery, Wells Fargo office, drug store, general store and doctor and dentist offices. The railroad section features a steam locomotive, caboose, jail and train depot. The back section of the area is devoted to the all important oil industry. Huge wooden oil derricks tower above old pumps and other related structures. The nicest buildings are residential homes ranging from an 1860s log cabin to 1930s adobe house with a 1906 sheepherder’s cabin in between. The loveliest is a Queen Anne style Victorian house from the 1870s. The “showpiece” is the Haggard House where country music legend Merle Haggard grew up. In 1935, his parents bought a Santa Fe Railroad refrigerator car and converted it into living quarters. You can walk inside inside to see the four tiny rooms that had to have been hard cramped living for young Merle. Kern County Museum is a nice place to experience a piece of the past.