This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Santa Fe Rail Roots of Kern County Potato Trade
The Santa Fe Railway expanded freight service through Kern County from 1930 to 1948, boosting Shafter’s potato shipments via Bakersfield to national markets. Upgrades included two way radio, heavier rails, icing docks, and Diesel-powered trains, aided by local agents and officials, shaping the county’s agricultural transport system. The First Mennonite church in Shafter traces its beginnings to 1918 19 with early gatherings in homes and the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Rev. H J Krehbiel spurred the revival, and by 1937 the Mennonite group moved into a dedicated church on Searoni Avenue.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Santa Fe Railroad
Shafter
Santa Fe
Bakersfield
Barstow
Tehachapi
Chicago
Santaness
Kern County
F. C. Raney
Doc Sloat
Arizona
Canyon Diablo
Santa Fe Railway
Mera County
Topeka
Kansas
San Francisco
San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin
General Conference of Mennonites
Newton
H. J. Krenbiel
Reedley
California
Seventh Day ‘Adventist Church
Shafter Highway
Herman Janzen
Nick Neufeld
Searoni Avenue
H. J. Krehbiel