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Made in the shade
Topics: shade, trees, bakersfield, local history, highways, Dust Bowl
Posted by citizenjournalist Tue Sep 4, 2007 12:26:16 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Planting thousands of shade trees was early Bakersfield's remedy to the hot summer heat and most land owners, along with Kern Land Company, planted them along canal banks to help control soil erosion as well as giving shade for their large cattle herds. Beautiful tree lined streets can be seen in early photographs such as the "Jewett Lane" shady, cool photo from the late 1800's. Trees were of great importance to the growth of our community from the very beginning.

Landscaping with shade trees along old Union Avenue is shown in early pictures and was provided by the land owners with partial County assistance. In 1890, Will Houghton promoted and developed The Union Avenue Colony. In conjunction with Kern Land Company he planted 1000 landmark eucalyptus trees along Union Avenue South of Bakersfield. The extent of tree planting by Kern Land Company is illustrated by a newspaper report from February 11, 1893. In describing the previous days flood damage to the Hunt brothers Kern Valley Nursery: "2,000 palm trees which had been received the previous day were swept away. These trees belonged to Kern Land Company and were to be planted along 19Th Street and along 24Th Street. Also lost were 67,000 grafts and numerous assorted young trees".

In 1918 The California Highway Commission adopted the maintenance of all trees on state highways no matter who had planted them. In many cases trees planted by well meaning citizens had to be removed because they were too close to the road or were an unsuitable species for their location. The state developed a "Tree Planting Commission" which grew new tree varieties, near Davis, in a working agreement with Berkeley University. Planting of the young trees cost the state about a dollar each. Local civic groups were doing most of the tree planting using state guidelines as to when, where and how they were put along the roadway, the balance of landscaping was performed by private contractors. About 1921, the Kern County Road Commission planted 1000 oak trees along the straightaway midway between the mountains and Bakersfield, due to lack of water in that area, all the seedlings died. Shortly thereafter, State Highway Commission engineer JW Woodson planted thousands of Blue Gum eucalyptus trees along that section. He then installed 15 miles of water pipe and a water truck along with a crew of workers to care for the new plantings. Some of these trees still survive.

Palm and eucalyptus were chosen to line the thirty mile straightaway South of Bakersfield. this choice was made because road maintenance engineers discovered these trees not only shaded the road surface and lessened the temperature extremes which often buckled the pavement but that the roots had sought the moisture beneath the roadbed and reduced sub-pavement water-- the maintenance man's enemy. Maintaining the roadside trees included pruning and replacing dead, damaged or diseased flora.

The very large eucalyptus trees located thirteen miles South of Bakersfield were planted during the 20's, 30's and 40's. Just a few of these giants have survived the wind, drought, insects and violent car and truck crashes . Large scars from auto accidents can still be seen on many of the old trees. Multiple stretches of the road in this section have been altered from 2 and 3 lane and re-aligned into 4 lane. Many trees have been removed and replanted so their species and age is mixed, only the stretch of 4 lane road beginning at Bear Mountain Road, 13 miles South of Bakersfield, contain some original trees. The Northbound lanes of this section are the only remaining original 99 Highway roadbed.

In 1932, my wife's father and mother, along with relatives and their children, left Long Beach hunting any work they could find. They had come from Oklahoma in search of a better life and after finding no jobs in depression era Los Angeles they began driving North toward Bakersfield. When they finally arrived at the eucalyptus lined highway 99, South of town, they noticed dozens of families camped under the big trees. Being about out of gas and penniless they parked under a tree, unloaded their tent and provisions, then discussed staying there until they could decide what to do next. They were discouraged and felt helpless but they prayed, asking for help.That evening as they began building a fire to fry some potatoes, my mother in law and her sister walked out into a nearby field, gathering firewood. As they pulled a piece of wood from a large bush they were overcome with joy as they found a ten dollar bill that had blown into the brush from the highway. At the time, ten dollars seemed a fortune to that family. The next morning, filled with renewed determination, they rolled into bakersfield, found employment, built a house, built a business, raised a family and made it their home for life.

The shade of those trees was a favorite rest stop and picnic location for 1920 period motorists and after 1929 they provided shelter for countless numbers of depression era families as they searched for a place to live and work. Many lives were lost due to automobiles drifting off the road and colliding with the immovable giants but at the same time many new lives were added as children were born to the temporary residents living beneath their boughs.

Through the 40's and 50's, after most fatal accidents involving a vehicle colliding with a tree along the 30 mile stretch, many citizens demanded removal of the "killer trees". Others argued it was the motorists fault for falling asleep at the wheel, ( which was the common cause). This controversy continued until finally, in 1963, the new 99 highway bypass was constructed around Bakersfield and the traffic load on Golden State Highway greatly diminished, later, opening of the Interstate 5 reduced through traffic to practically zero. At last the big trees were spared from destruction. Hollywood photo studios have discovered our secluded highway and are frequently filming TV scenes and commercials using the spectacular trees as background. What a beautiful lane has been preserved for us to drive out and just stroll about in the quiet, cool shade and breathe in the fragrant eucalyptus vapor as we enjoy these majestic trees of highway 99.

(C) By George Gilbert Lynch
August, 2005

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