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AllianceIt is always a bit nostalgicto revisit the historic, andtherefore somewhat romanticsites within your ownneighborhood. Particularly isthis so when enjoyed with agroup of people who share acongenial curiosity, and theyear by coincidence happens to be the centennial birthday of Bakersfield.On a recent Sunday during its latest historical quest the Museum Alliance departed from the countv museum at 9 a.m. proceeding north across the Kern River via Chester \venue through O11 d a 1 e to China Grade Loop. They then drove east through the Kern River oilfield several miles to the hand-dug discovery well of 1899. Here on the north bank of the Kern River theparty parked by the bronze plaque at the excavation, w hose opening has been boxedin to prevent the curious from falling into the 40-foot deep pit. The well was dug by James and Jonathon Elwood and its completion set off a wild drilling boom that resulted in an unprecedented growth for the city ofBakersfield.Backtracking toward Oildale about a mile the 10-car caravan crossed the bridgewhere from 185S to 1861 MajorAneas Gordon operated an overhead cable ferry duringthe hevdav of the Butterfield• *Stage Line through Kern. The adobe stage depot that stood here disappeared many years ago.Continuing on up China Grade, named for Chinese gardeners who carried theirproduce from the flat landbeside the river over the bluffs to Bakersfield liefore the turn of the century, the party drove west around the rim of Panorama Drive to the Royal Palms Golf Club. The bronze plaque at the course entrance revealed that this area wasthe last home of ElishaStevens who was the first permanent settler where Bakersfield stands today. He was also a veteran of the Mexican War and a noted wagon train leader.The next stop was on 17th Street where the Mill Ditch crosses the thoroughfare by Hill House Motel. According to local tradition Padre Francisco Garces crossed the old channel of the Kern River which once flowed here during his visit to the local Indian ranchoria in 1776. A couple of dead cottonwood trunks on which he crossed are said to have lain athwart the watercourts.Colonel Baker's home siteon the north side of 19th Street in the 1100 block was next visited. Christian Bohna, first settler on land later part of the city, erected a rude dwelling at this location which was later taken over by the Baker family in 1863. From this point the caravan movedonto the Civic Auditorium andits marker commemorating “Baker’s Field'’ which lay between present day 14th and-17th streets and was bounded on the west by K Street and on the east by P Street. Travelers found it a welcome-haven from bandits active in these parts during the Civil War period.After making a quick stop at the site of the famous “joss house’’ shootout of 1903, now occupied by the Ying Ming Hall, the trek continued south past the civic center to the birthplace of Lawrence Tib!et. celebrated baritone of the Metropolitan Opera and undoubtedly Bakersfield most famous native son. This house at 716 K Street stands in the midst of the Pioneer Nursery grounds. Tihbet who died in I960 was born in the front bedroom of this dwelling in 1896. No doubt music lovers and historians will unite oneBy RICHARD C. BAILEY Director Kern County Museumof these days in recognizingthis site as a significant landmark.Moving east across Chester Avenue the Museum party drove to F Street then fun her along the Santa Fe tracks to the railroads freight depot. Back in 1898 the Yokuts Indian Village of Woy-Loo, where Garces staved brief Iv, occupied the top of a 15-foot-high sandhill where this building now stands. When the tracklayers arrived the sandhill melted away as it was used for fill up and down the new right of way.Rosedale. a onetime English colony eight miles west of the Oak Street city limits, wasthe next target. The townsite bordering present-day Rosedale Highway waspurchased from the KernCountv Land Co. bv numberstW-' —of small farmers fromEngland in 1891. A few years later the colony dissolved due■ vto severe droughts and otherdifficulties. However, the little church they erected still exists as a restored exhibit in the museum's Pioneer Village. It was preserved through the support of farmers someyears ago. Only an abandoned store of more recent vintage stands there as a reminder of this now almost forgotten community.Leaving Rosedale via AllenRoad south to Stockdale Highway, the caravan turned west to Tule Klk State Park near Tupman. The elk. protected on this 954-acrepasture well out of range of photographers so the travelers continued on to the 1893 projected community of Gosford.Gosford as a town was never more than a dream althougha plat of it exists in the office of the county surveyor. It was laid out by the Southern Pacific Railroad and named in honor of the English Karl of Gosford. Today it is notedas the site of one of the largest cattle feeding operations in the West andits entire “citizenry” is composed of beef on the hoof.Several miles to the southeast where the north end of Ashe Road terminates atPanama Lane was the onetime home of “Joyful,” a- Wcommunal colony officially known as the Association ofBrotherly Cooperation. It wasorganized in 188L by Isaac Rumford on the bank ofPanama Slough. A newspaper was published in 1884 called the Joyful News Cooperator but the colony disbanded themsame year possibly due to its stringent rules, one of which forbade the eating of meat.One mile to the east at the intersection of Panama Lane and Stine Road stood the earlvSpanish settlement known asPanama. Accord ng to localtradition it was established as early as 1849 and was first called Rio Bravo. About 1873 a new settlement came intoexistence on the present Taft Highway route and the former community faded away. Herr* ended the group's centennialrefuge since 1932, were not trek to mane of the intriguingcooperative during this visit and remained far out in theirspots relating to our city's colorful and varied past.r1••* * #•L1 V» . i t #Chuck Wood, left, and Jack Agan will be featured performers when the Bakersfield Concert Band presents its third program at 8 p.m. tomorrow in Beale Park. Lawrence Foster, director, has chosen to open the program withThe Champion March” by Holmes and Martha Overture by R. V. Flotow followed by “Relax Rhumbo” Yoder. Wood and Agan will play “Ode for Trumpet” by Alfred Reed.byTRUMPETS STARREDThird in ConcertSeries ScheduledThe Bakersfield Concert Band will present its third program at 8 p.m. tomorrow’m Beale Park. The concerts arc free to the public and are co-sponsored by theBakersfield R e c r e a t ionDepartment and MusiciansLocal 263.Lawrence Foster, director,said the program will open with “The Champion March” by Holmes and “MarthaOverture'’ bv R. V. Flotow90 -■followed by “Relax Rumba”90bv Yoder.Featured performers will be Chuck Wood and Jack Agan playing “Ode for Trumpet” byAlfred Ileed. Wood is director of the Bakersfield College Renegade Band, brass choir and studio band and has many trophies to his credit. He also plays first chair trumpet withthe Kern Philharmonic Orchcst ra.\ga has played trumpet since grade school and hashad several years of music lessons from the concert band director. Agan is employed by a local oil company.The program will include “’The Valiant Years” bvwtF’'Richard Rodgers andhighlights from “Fidler on the Roof” by Jerv Bock. Changing the mood from comic to serious the band will play ‘ The Irish Washerwoman” by Anderson and “This is My Country” bv At Joeobs.Closing the program, the band will play a special arrangement by Harold Walters featuring the different brass instruments playing “AHot Time In The Brasses Tonight,” followed by “The Rifle Regiment March” InASousa. 1 1
Newspaper Details
Bakersfield Californian
Bakersfield, California, US
Sat, Jun 28, 1969
Page 33
Full Page
Clipped by
Stephen H.
CA, USA 06 May 2018
Other Publications Near Bakersfield, California
The Berkshire County Eagle
Southern Californian and Kern Weekly Courier
The Weekly Californian
Kern County Californian
Daily Californian
