Bakersfield Life

A trip down to the old Kern County Fair

By: Jeff Nickell, Director, Kern County Museum

        The Kern County Fair has been a tradition that folks have enjoyed for decades.  But, did you know that the old fairgrounds on Chester Avenue were built on what was once the Jewett Ranch?  The Jewett Ranch pretty much covered the surrounding area, as well, including where Memorial Hospital is located with the north border being the river and the south border being the railroads tracks.  The Jewett Brothers – Solomon and Philo – had their hands in most of the areas of commerce that helped to make Bakersfield what it is today. 
       They were involved in water, land ownership, agriculture, sheep, oil, and banking and possibly some I have left out.  Philo Jewett, in his journals, takes credit for suggesting the young town be named Bakersfield all those years ago.
       In 1913, the site changed dramatically.  A huge automobile racetrack was built at that time with the Pan Pacific Road Race making a lap around the track before heading north to the finish line in Sacramento.  The racetrack reportedly cost $100,000 to build, and city officials became a sponsor of the race for $5,000 to ensure the track would be a part of the race.  Inside the huge, automobile racetrack, a rodeo arena was constructed.  The large grandstand was just about where the northern part of Stramler Park is today.
       I should mention that another event took place at the track.  Silas Christofferson was the first to pilot a plane across the Tehachapi Mountains to Los Angeles on Feb. 16, 1914. A postcard that was included in the “Curtis Darling Post Card Collection” I authored with Don Arnot shows his return trip to Bakersfield when he landed at the old racecar track on Chester Avenue near the Kern River in April of the same year.  Nothing remains of the race track or the rodeo arena except for photos and the memories of folks who enjoyed what those venues brought forth for them.  Of course, there may be remnants here and there such as the pilasters that are located between the museum and Stramler Park.
       According to the Historic Chronology of Kern County, the first Kern County Fair held on the site was from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10 in 1925.  In 1926, the first of two large buildings was designed to be built on the site both designed by Charles Biggar: one was the Exhibition Building for the Kern County Fair, and the other was the Kern County Chamber of Commerce.  The Exhibition Building was ‘the spot’ to see wonderful exhibits from Kern County communities and business.  And, when I say large, this building was large!  Only about half of the building remains after a fire destroyed the other half in the 1980s.  Today, the remaining 9,600 square feet serve as the Kern County Museum’s shop building where supplies are kept to maintain all of the buildings in Pioneer Village.
        Given a place of honor at the fairgrounds was another massive structure.  It was the Souther Ditch Plow, which was constructed to help dig Kern County canals. It was commissioned by Horatio Livermore and built by William Souther in Watsonville, then brought by train to Bakersfield.  The plow, thought to be the world’s largest, was really as my son would say ‘an epic fail’.  Even so, it sat for all to see for years and years until the weather took its toll.  It was restored with funding from the Livermore Family and is the transportation building at the museum (This building is only open a few times a year due to staffing).
       In 1941, Sam Lynn Ball Park brought professional baseball to Bakersfield.  A number of teams have had their minor league franchises playing there throughout the years.  For me, the most memorable were when the Bakersfield Dodgers played in our historic, yet outdated park.  Players like Don Drysdale, Ron Cey, and so many others played here in Bakersfield before making the big stage with many becoming World Series Champions.
       The fair site at the Chester Avenue site served the residents of Kern County well for a number of years before it was decided that the fair needed a new location. 
        In 1952, the Kern County Fair moved to its current location in South Bakersfield with Ming Avenue to the south and P Street to the west, Belle Terrace Avenue to the north, and Union Avenue to the east.  Other than historic photos, this is the only fair I have known.  It was always something I looked forward to in the hopes that our family would go.  I have seen numerous concerts there, including George Strait, Kathy Mattea, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, (note the country music trend), among others. 
        Today, the old fairgrounds site known at the Metropolitan Recreation Complex is home to Sam Lynn Ball Park, the Northwest Baseball Association (on the diamonds that used to be the Junior Baseball Association’s and where I played as a child and watched my older brothers play, not to mention being scared by a snake as I was playing behind the walls of Sam Lynn), the Dave Frye Softball Field, BMX Track, Slot Car Track, Stramler Park, and the Kern County Museum.