I am really enjoying your "Lost Treasures of Bakersfield" postings and blogs.  I was raised in Oildale & Bakersfield, late ' 50s & early ' 60s. 

Watching the elegant red & silver Santa Fe "San Francisco Chief " passenger train arrive & depart Bakersfield at the Fst. depot.  Chasing the Southern Pacific's "San Joaquin Daylight" out of town near Union Ave.  The big "wig-wum" wood burner on Union at Kentucky.
 
 Going to Meadows Field on a hot summer day and watching the classic propeller driven Convairs & F-27s of United and Pacific Airlines.  Getting a haircut by Bob Larimer at Meadows barbershop.  The bar at "Freddies at the Skyway House." Sitting on the red brick  fence out there..........
 
Do you recall Chester Market, the tunnel underneath N. Chester and the Highland Bar?  Swimming pool at N. High School?  Walking barefoot to get an Ice cream at Baker Drug?  Wayne's Dairy, the milkman coming to your door and the Helm's Bakery panel truck with it's Hollywood Wolf Whistle?  The chocolate macaroons were great!
 
Remember E.N.T. Dr. Charles Stewart M.D. on 17th st.  Also, Dr. Stanton M.D. on Truxton Ave?  I had my tonsils taken out by Stewart in 1958 in his office.....ouch!  And, Flynn Ambulance? 
 
Ah yes, the delicious brownies at Smith's Bakery and shopping at the Green Frog market on Alta Vista.  And were you at the Rice Bowl and Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks who used V.W. buses called "Flying Chopsticks" to deliver the food?  Also, the Pagoda on 18th st?  Remember the Christmas parade and the Padre Hotel?  Also, Tops Restaurant and the mezzanine at Brock's Dept Store?  Also, Fedway, Sears and Weill's? 
 
We had a 1952 Plymouth, no air conditioning and a "three on the tree" shift.  How we survived without air conditioning, I don't know.........we were tough back then!  The train at Hart Park was a miniature of the Southern Pacific "Daylight" steam engine. 
 
Yes, I recall meteorologist Marge Styles very well.   I used to like the sound her grease pencil made on the glass board as she wrote backward temperatures for Kern County cities.
 
Walking to Col. Nichols school from our home in N.E. Bakersfield and recall those cold, foggy, zero visibility mornings!  We didn't have snow at Christmas but the tule fog made the colored lights look grand.  Urners Chrysler-Plymouth where my father bought a 1961 "Fury" with a huge 396 cui. V-8.  
 
I enjoy reminiscing however it may give away my age.
 
Gary Plomp, from Gilroy   

This whole project began more than a year ago as Mesa Marin raceway was getting closer and closer to shutting down. We were having a discussion in the newsroom about Bakersfield losing such a landmark and what it meant.

Mesa Marin was one of those things that made Bakersfield unique. That made it stand out from all the other cities that have the same chain restaurants and big box stores.

And then we wondered: What Lost Treasures are so long gone that we don't even know about them? And the hunt was on.

Now, it seems fitting to ask the inverse of that question: What current landmarks should we protect to keep them from becoming lost?

We've had a few people suggest we should have included this sign in our Lost Treasures package. I definitely am fascinated by this behemoth. Maybe we'll add it to our long list of potential treasures to track down.

Anyone know anything about this sign? Anyone have pictures of it? (This was the best I could find.)

And most importantly, anyone know where it is now? How cool would it be to have this thing in your backyard.

We're launching our Lost Treasures project this weekend, starting Sunday for print readers. We'll dole out several at a time for the next week.

But for online readers, you get it all right now.

Reporter Jeff Nachtigal has designed a cool Flash presentation that includes all the stories, images and audio slideshows. Check it out here.

If you have technical problems you can check out an all text list of the stories here. It doesn't have all the pictures and audio slideshows, however.

Did we miss an important Lost Treasure?

You can leave your own favorite Lost Treasures on this blog. Or you can e-mail them to losttreasures@bakersfield.com or even phone them in to 661-395-7201.

We're hoping to run even more of these in the future.

This is a photo we stumbled upon while working on the Lost Treasures. It isn't one of the items we featured. We just don't know enough and since it was knocked down to make way for the Bakersfield Inn, there might not be many folks who still remember it.

Any old timers out there that know more about this place? Here is all we have from the cutline on the photo.

"Located at Calif. Ave. & Union Ave. on old Hwy. 99. Later torn down to make way for construction of Bakersfield Inn."

Starting very soon, The Californian is going to be running a series of articles on local 'Lost Treasures.'

These are old businesses and landmarks that have disappeared over the years, but still remain strong in the memories of locals. Here's a list of some of the things we'll be profiling.

Stan’s Drive-in
Michener’s Drive In
The Blackboard
Al  Bussell's Ranch
Sun, Fun, Stay, Play Signs
Brock’s Department Store
Union Avenue Plunge
Rollo-Dome
El Tejon Hotel
Crystal Baths
Freddie’s at the Skyway House
California Theater
Maison Jaussaud
Drive in theatres: Ninety Nine (99), Crest, Terrace, South Chester

What 'Lost Treasures' do you folks miss?