One of the best collection I've seen. Awesome!

Thank you for taking the time to share that.

I have more but not scanned yet.  I still have a couple of people who, when they have Bakersfield cards, email me to look them over.

I'll post it when I  get more on.  I have quite a few of the of motels along Union when it was THE strip to travel.  Real  people used to stay in them long before the prostitutes and sleazes turned them into no tell motels.

Nancy, what a great collection.  I can't wait until you get more online, 

(I was gonna ask if you took those pictures, but thought I might get smacked.  :) )

Good guess Tom.  I knew you were a smart man.  :-)

Thanks Nancy. 

My mother had a terrible time trying to turn lelt around the clock tower.  She could never decide wheter to turn in front of the tower or curcle around the back to turn.  She made things very interesting for the people taking refuge in the base of the tower..

Darn that earthquake anyway.   It cost us a lot of cool buildings.  There's an even older picture of the courthouse in my stuff..I've gotta dig them out.

In the one of Lerners you can see the Kress building at the far left and in the very lower left corner you can see what used to be Rogers Jewelers where they had a black glassy tile facade and a big clock on top.  Rogers was on the north east corner of 19th and Chester.

Nancy, these are great!  Thank you, and I can't wait to see more.

(And Steve, dude, yeah, the '50s left us a lot of ugly stuff, but not all of it.  Drive through some of residential neighborhoods from the era to see some nice examples of the '50s-modern "atomic ranch.")

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the pictures.  I always thought Vivian Tucker had the coolest job and was sorry to see her pass.  I'd love to dig up stories like she did and show newcomers (and some oldcomers) what this city is really all about.

Talk about making your hobby your career and never working a day in your life again..what a great thing to do.

Nice Nancy! I'll try to find some too.....

Driving to L.A. has always been an adventure....

I didn't think the Garces Circle was that old......

Here's a 50s shot for ya Steve...

Earthquake time!

We've come a long way in the last century....

Thanks Nancy! I can't wait to see the rest of your collection (hint, hint). Also a shout out of thanks to antiextremism!

Nancy,

This time, you've outdone yourself. These pictures are priceless. Thanks so much for posting them. You've got my vote for best blog ever. ;-)

Dusty..I knew how to post them on my own blog..I just haven't figured out or uploaded them to a remote place for posting on other people's blogs.

Tony..thanks for the compliment.  This is business as usual for me as it's my hobby.  One Sunday I went to the Museum gift shop and bought a book on the Chinese in Bakersfield.  Then I drove slowly all over trying to pinpoint where things pictured in the book were located.  Sunday is a great day to do that.

For a short time I worked at the Habit and the gal who owned it told me it used to be a Chinese Laundry.  The boilers and machinery were still in the fenced in back yard and  may still be there.  I've  no idea what the name of the laundry was.  When I was a younger (ahem) chick, the cribs they used for the prostitutes were still visable.  It was a long narrow building and you could see where the doors had been.  Just about cot sized apart.  I think it was somewhere near the tv station (KGET) downtown.

As for the picture with what appears to be Buena Vista lake.  I looks like it goes right up to 99 Highway so I'm not sure that's what it is.  I grew up inear those parts and there was never a lake that I remember.  I have to admit we didn't move here til the early 40's.  More research is needed as to when the water from the lake disappeared.

I'm delighted that something was posted that brought everyone together. 

The first earthquake was in July about 5 AM.  I was sleeping in my mothers bed and when it woke me up she was sitting on the edge of the bed looking out the window.  I asked it it was a bomb (Hiroshima hadn't been far back you know) and she said "no, it's an earthquake.  My aunt, uncle, and 3 boys were here from TX and sleeping all over the house.  It shook a cactus painted desert scene off the shelf and everyonw waws tiptoing around cactus.  My aunt was ready to pack up and head bad to TX.

The second one was in August and was the one that caused the most damage as the first had rattled everything loose.  Tehachapi was hardest hit in terms of lost lives as it was nearer the epicenter.  The fault  was the White Wolf and can be seen out from Arvin.

During that second one around 3 PM I was at a neighbor s house with a few other kids.  Their sow had just had a bunch of piglets and we were all in the pen gawking at them.  When the quake hit, we all started screaming "MAMA" and tried to get through the gate which kept moving back and forth on us.  Pretty terrifying for a 10 year old.

Another memory.  My Dad was working on a drilling rig somewhere up on the mountain range between Frazier Park and the Maricopa road and he said when the quake hit the rig started swaying back and forth.  He also said they could see out over the valley and that the dust started rising like a fog to the point that they couldn't see the valley.

It must have been terrible for a lot of people since cell phones were a long way from existance.

We lost a lot of history during that time.  The only buildings that have retained their original beauty are the Kress building and the Chinese restaurant on the corner across from the Far East.  It still has tile roof with the tipped up edges.  Refurbished I know, but original looking anyway.

When I was a bartender at Best Western I had people come in all the time asking about the city.  Once I was asked if we had a downtown because you can't see it from the freeway.  Because of our shakey past (quakes) and the low cost of land, it was easier and cheaper to build out rather than up.  That gives passersby the impression that we have no "downtown."  Of course we all know how well THAT worked out...but it is what it is.

In any case, I keep waiting for someone to offer me a job as local amateur historian and head Bakersfield cheerleader.  (Maybe the pay will be more than I'm now making.)    :-) 

People who were passing through and staying at the hotel were usually surprised at the history here.  The motel pics and other places of local interest will probably go up on Sat since I have to work tomorrow and my brain is mush tonight.  You'll be surprised to know that the little boarded up motel behind the Mexican restaurant (used to be a hamburger stand) on Union and the overpass on Truxtun was a very nice place.  I have a postcard of that one too.  I just had to take a drive down and check it out.

I believe you're right Nancy, about the "lake" on the postcard....a little artistic license there.  I've driven the old Ridge Route in recent years, and I don't remember being able to see any lakes, even though we do have several now (Pyramid, Castaic, etc.)  And Nancy, thanks so much for sharing your pics and postcards!!

My mom's family had just come to California (Pasadena) from Oklahoma in '51 and had never experienced an earthquake.  My grandpa and mom were already up, and my mom remembers watching him trying to turn on a light, but not being able to actually get hold of the light switch because of the swaying.  My grandpa used to tell me about standing at the front window and watching the street "roll" like an ocean wave.

We were living in Oregon during the quake.  Glad I missed it.

 I do have a quake story I got from an old family friend, Betty (since deceased).  She was John Brock's personal secretary.    It was a usual work day for them on the top floor of the old Brock building.  The quake shook the bejesus out of the place with the result that a wall encasing the staircase crumbled.  That left the staircase exposed on one side with just a remaining wall holding it up.    It was pitch black in the building and the  dust made breathing difficult.   John Brock, Betty and a customer had to find a way down the staircase to the safety of the street.

Betty said the customer was paralyzed with fear and had a death grip on her neck.  This made navigating the stairs much harder for Betty.  She finally told the customer to calm down and let go of her neck.  They slowly made their way down the stairs to the street.  When they reached the street, Betty said she was amazed they survived considering the destruction they saw everywhere.

Wow Nancy! You have really got everyone talking!

I wanted to let you know that we have a local history section on NewToBakersfield.com where we are collecting these types of images. Our collection right now is small, but I would love it if you would re-post there or send them to me as well: mrusso@bakersfield.com

Thank you for sharing!!!

Mary, Im always happy to share anything I have about the city.

I'm really pleased that so many people are interested in our history.  With all the new construction and infrastructure problems they forget (if they ever knew) what a great place this was to raise a family.  In our quest to be bigger, better, and badder, we forgot that with progress comes change...and it isn't always good change.

Somewhere I also have a picture of the library and Brocks working out of huge tents.  I guess I have my job cut out for me this weekend don't I?  :-)