Kern County, California: Difference between revisions

County of Kern
County
Seal
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Incorporated	1866
County seat	Bakersfield
Largest city	Bakersfield
Area
• Total	8,161.42 sq mi (21,138.0 km2)
• Land	8,140.96 sq mi (21,085.0 km2)
• Water	20.46 sq mi (53.0 km2)
Highest elevation [1]	8,755 ft (2,669 m)
Lowest elevation [1]	206 ft (63 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	839,631
• Density	100/sq mi (40/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Website	www.co.kern.ca.us

Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the thirteenth-largest county by population in California.^[2] Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence.

The area was claimed by the Spanish in 1769, and in 1772 Commander Don Pedro Fages became the first European to enter it, from the south by way of the Grapevine Canyon.

Kern County was the site of the Battle of San Emigdio, in March 1824, between the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara Mission who rebelled against the Mexican government's taking over mission property and ejecting the natives. This battle with Mexican forces from Monterey under the command of Cárlos Carrillo took place at the canyon where San Emigdio Creek flows down San Emigdio Mountain and the Blue Ridge south of Bakersfield near today's Highway 166. It was a low-casualty encounter, with only four Indians killed, and no Mexicans; the surviving Indians were pacified and brought back to Santa Barbara in June 1824 after a pursuit and negotiation in which many were allowed to keep their arms for the return march over the mountains.^[3]

In the beginning, the area that became Kern County was dominated by mining in the mountains and in the desert. County government was created in 1866 with the county seat in the mining town of Havilah, in the mountains between Bakersfield and Tehachapi.^{[citation needed]}

The flatlands were considered inhospitable and impassable at the time due to swamps, lakes, tule reeds and diseases such as malaria.This changed when settlers started draining lands for farming and constructing canals, most dug by hand by hired Chinese laborers. Within 10 years the valley surpassed the mining areas as the economic center of the county, and the county seat was moved as a result from Havilah to Bakersfield in 1874.^{[citation needed]}

The discovery well of the Kern River Oil Field was dug by hand in 1899.^[4] Soon the towns of Oil City, Oil Center and Oildale came into existence.^[4]

The county derives its name from the Kern River, which was named for Edward Kern, cartographer for General John C. Fremont's 1845 expedition, which crossed Walker Pass. The Kern River was originally named Rio Bravo de San Felipe by Father Francisco Garces when he explored the area in 1776. Kern County was nearly named Buena Vista County for the large, and now drained, Buena Vista Lake between Bakersfield and Taft.^{[citation needed]}

Severe earthquakes have struck Kern County within historical times, including the Fort Tejon earthquake of 1857 and the Lone Pine earthquake of 1872.

On July 21, 1952, an earthquake with the epicenter about 23 miles (37 km) south of Bakersfield, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale killed 12 people. In addition to 12 fatalities, it was responsible for at least 18 injuries and more than $60 million in property damage. The main shock was felt over most of California and as far away as Phoenix, Arizona and Reno, Nevada.^[5]

Between 1983 and 1986, several ritual sex ring child abuse cases allegedly occurred in Kern County, resulting in numerous long prison sentences, all of which were overturned—some of them decades later, because, it was said, the prosecutors had coerced false testimonies from the purported child victims.^[6] The details of these false accusations are covered extensively in the 2008 documentary Witch Hunt, narrated by Sean Penn. [5]

Kern County Clerk Ann Barnett announced in mid-June 2008 that the county would stop performing all civil marriage ceremonies. County officials cited budget and staffing constraints. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Barnett made her decision after county lawyers told her she could not refuse to marry same-sex couples.^[7]

According to the California Secretary of State, as of April 2008, Kern County had 283,732 registered voters. Of those, 101,580 (35.8%) were Democrats, 131,878 (46.5%) were Republicans, 10,752 (3.8%) wereregistered with other political parties, and 39,522 (13.9%) declined to state a political party. The cities of Bakersfield, California City, Maricopa, Ridgecrest, Taft, Tehachapi, and the unincorporated areas had a plurality or majority of voters registered Republican. All of the other cities and towns had Democratic pluralities or majorities.^{[citation needed]}

Kern County vote
by party in presidential elections
The background color in the Year column indicates which party had a plurality vote, red for Republican and blue for Democratic.

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	57.9% 134,793	40.2% 93,457	1.8% 4,111
2004	66.5% 140,417	32.5% 68,603	1.0% 2,154
2000	60.7% 110,663	36.2% 66,003	3.1% 5,642
1996	53.8% 92,151	36.6% 62,658	9.7% 16,582
1992	45.1% 80,762	33.8% 60,510	21.2% 37,991
1988	61.5% 90,550	37.4% 55,083	1.1% 1,660
1984	65.0% 94,776	34.0% 49,567	1.0% 1,401
1980	59.7% 72,842	33.7% 41,097	6.7% 8,182
1976	52.3% 58,023	45.6% 50,567	2.1% 2,371
1972	60.1% 71,686	35.2% 41,937	4.6% 5,570
1968	46.6% 53,990	42.6% 49,284	10.8% 12,558
1964	41.2% 45,014	58.7% 64,174	0.1% 120
1960	50.4% 52,800	49.1% 51,440	0.4% 465
1956	51.3% 46,220	48.3% 43,533	0.4% 322
1952	55.1% 46,497	44.2% 37,240	0.7% 602
1948	41.6% 24,464	56.2% 33,029	2.3% 1,318
1944	44.0% 20,730	55.6% 26,205	0.5% 226
1940	37.3% 19,445	61.8% 32,202	0.9% 479
1936	24.2% 8,345	74.6% 25,726	1.2% 408
1932	25.1% 7,011	70.3% 19,634	4.6% 1,275
1928	62.7% 14,692	36.4% 8,541	0.9% 212
1924	46.1% 8,646	16.8% 3,159	37.1% 6,958
1920	49.0% 7,079	42.2% 6,095	8.8% 1,270

Kern is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democratic candidate for President to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Kern is part of California's 20th and 22nd congressional districts, which are held by Democrat Jim Costa and Republican Kevin McCarthy, respectively.

In the State Assembly, Kern is part of the 30th, 32nd, 34th and 37th districts. The 30th, 32nd, and 34th districts are held by Republicans David Valadao, Shannon Grove and Connie Conway. respectively. In the State Senate, Kern is part of the 16th and 18th districts, which are held by Democrat Michael Rubio and Republican Jean Fuller, respectively.

On Nov. 4, 2008 Kern County voted 75.5% in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Kern County is governed by a five-member board of supervisors. As of 2011, they are:^{[citation needed]}

• 1st District, Jon McQuiston.
• 2nd District, Zack Scrivner.
• 3rd District, Mike Maggard.
• 4th District, Ray Watson.
• 5th District, Karen Goh.

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 8,161.42 square miles (21,138.0 km²), of which 8,140.96 square miles (21,085.0 km²) (or 99.75%) is land and 20.46 square miles (53.0 km²) (or 0.25%) is water.^[8]

Kern County is in the southern California Central Valley. With an area nearly the size of New Jersey. It extends:^{[citation needed]}

• East beyond the southern slope of the eastern Sierra Nevada range into the Mojave Desert and includes parts of the Indian Wells Valley and the Antelope Valley.

• West from the Sierra across the floor of the San Joaquin Valley to the eastern edge of the Temblor Range, which is a part of the Coastal Ranges.

• South over the ridge of the Tehachapi Mountains.

The county seat is Bakersfield (since 1874), with the original county seat being the former mining town of Havilah in the mountains between Bakersfield and Tehachapi.

• Bakersfield

• Delano

• California City
• Maricopa
• Taft

The following are census-designated places (CDPs) within Kern County:

CDPs over 10,000

• Oildale
• Lamont
• Rosamond

CDPs over 1,000

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CDPs under 1,000

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• Adobe Station

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Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
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Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
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The county has a large agricultural base and is a significant producer of oil, natural gas, hydro-electric power, wind turbine power and geothermal power.The county accounts for one-tenth of overall U.S. oil production, and three of the five largest U.S. oil fields are in Kern County. Kern is also noted for its mineral wealth, including gold, borate, and kernite. The largest open pit mine in California, which mines borax, is at Boron in Kern County.^[9]

As of 2009^[update], Kern is California's top oil-producing county, with 81% of the state's 52,144 active oil wells.^[10]

Oil development began with the 1894 discovery of the Midway-Sunset Oil Field, now the third-largest in the United States, in the southwestern portion of Kern County near Maricopa. Yet it was an 1899 discovery along the Kern River, today part of the giant Kern River Oil Field, that was the breakthrough in Kern's oil production.^[4] Oil was refined here even before the establishment of the county.^[4] The Buena Vista Petroleum Company was organized and incorporated in 1864.^[4] Soon thereafter a refinery was built that operated until April 1867 when work ceased because of high freight charges.^[4]

It was in the Midway-Sunset Oil Field that well drillers brought about the 1910 Lakeview Gusher, the largest recorded oil strike in U.S. history. The well spewed approximately nine million barrels for a 18 months onto the adjacent terrain before workers finally were able to cap it.^[11]

Other big oil fields in southwestern Kern County discovered early in the 20th century include the Buena Vista, the South Belridge and the Cymric fields. The latter is the fastest-growing field in California in terms of barrels produced per year.^[12] Later large fields include the Kern River Oil Field, the fifth-largest in the U.S., the adjacent Kern Front Oil Field, the Mount Poso Oil Field in the lower foothills of the Sierra north-northeast of Bakersfield and the Fruitvale Oil Field, which underlies much of the city of Bakersfield, along and north of the Kern River.^[13][14]

On July 22, 2009, Occidental Petroleum announced it had discovered the equivalent of 150 million to 250 million barrels of oil in Kern County, which the company called the largest oil discovery in California in 35 years. The find added about 10 percent to California's known reserves. Occidental's Ray Irani said it is likely that more oil would be found in the areas outside the initial six wells that tapped the discovery. Occidental has not revealed the exact location of the find, two-thirds of which is natural gas. BNET, an industry web publication, said the find would add to the company's 708 million barrels of proven reserves in California.^{[citation needed]}

The county today contributes more than three-quarters of all the oil produced onshore in California.^[12]

Some of the large oil fields in Kern County which are still active include:

Department of Defense facilities include Edwards Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. As home to Edwards Air Force Base the Air Force's main flight test facility, Kern has been the site of many milestones, including the first supersonic flight and the first landing of the Space Shuttle. The base has brought prosperity to the railroad towns of Mojave and Rosamond.^[15] Kern County is also the home of the first inland spaceport in the United States, the Mojave Spaceport.^{[citation needed]}

Kern County suffers from severe air pollution. Particulates cause poor visibility, especially in the winter. Western Kern County lies in the San Joaquin Valley and the topography traps pollutants. Although the topography is not as unfavorable in eastern Kern County, eastern Kern County is a non-attainment area for particulates.^[16]

See also List of populated places in Kern County, California

According to the 2000 census, Kern County's population was 661,645. It was the fifth-largest county by population in California.^[17] The center of population of California is located in Kern County, in the town of Buttonwillow [6].

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	2,925		—
1880	5,601		91.5%
1890	9,808		75.1%
1900	16,480		68.0%
1910	37,715		128.9%
1920	54,843		45.4%
1930	82,570		50.6%
1940	135,124		63.6%
1950	228,309		69.0%
1960	291,984		27.9%
1970	329,162		12.7%
1980	403,089		22.5%
1990	543,477		34.8%
2000	661,645		21.7%
2010	839,631		26.9%
2011 (est.)	846,883	[18]	0.9%
Source: US Census[19][20][21]

The 2010 United States Census reported that Kern County had a population of 839,631. The racial makeup of Kern County was 499,766 (59.5%) White, 48,921 (5.8%) African American, 12,676 (1.5%) Native American, 34,846 (4.2%) Asian (1.9% Filipino, 1.0% Indian, 0.3% Chinese, 0.2% Korean, 0.2% Vietnamese, 0.1% Japanese), 1,252 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 204,314 (24.3%) from other races, and 37,856 (4.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 413,033 persons (49.2%); 43.4% of Kern County is Mexican, 1.0% Salvadoran, 0.5% Puerto Rican, and 0.4% Guatemalan.^[22]

According to the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 661,645 people, 208,652 households, and 156,489 families residing in the county. The population density was 81 people per square mile (31/km²). There were 231,564 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.60% White, 6.02% Black or African American, 3.37% Asian, 1.51% Native American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 23.22% from other races, and 4.14% from two or more races. 38.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 8.4% were of German, 7.2% American and 5.7% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 66.8% spoke English, 29.1% Spanish and 1.0% Tagalog as their first language.

There were 208,652 households out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.50.^{[citation needed]}

In the county the population was spread out with 31.9% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 105.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,446, and the median income for a family was $39,403. Males had a median income of $38,097 versus $25,876 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,760. About 16.8% of families and 20.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.8% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

^[23]

• White Non-Hispanic (49.5%)
• Hispanic (38.4%)
• Other race (23.2%)
• Black (6.0%)
• Two or more races (4.1%)
• American Indian (2.6%)
• Filipino (1.6%)
• Asian Indian (0.7%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics may be counted in any race.)

• Arvin Transit is the local municipal bus operator in and around Arvin.
• Delano Area Rapid Transit is the local municipal bus operator in Delano.
• Golden Empire Transit is the local bus operator in and near Bakersfield.
• Kern Regional Transit provides countywide intercity bus service.
• Taft Area Transit is the local municipal bus operator in and around Taft.
• Kern County is also served by Greyhound and Orange Belt Stages buses and Amtrak trains.

• California City Municipal Airport, California City. (FAA: L71)
• Delano Municipal Airport, Delano. (IATA: DLO)
• Inyokern Airport, Inyokern. (IATA: IYK)
• Kern Valley Airport, Kernville. (FAA: L05)
• Lost Hills Airport, Lost Hills. (FAA: L84)
• Meadows Field, Bakersfield, an international and general aviation airport. (IATA: BFL)
• Mojave Airport, Mojave. (IATA: MHV)
• Shafter Airport (Minter Field), Shafter. (IATA: MIT)
• Taft Airport, Taft. (FAA: L17)
• Tehachapi Municipal Airport, Tehachapi. (IATA: TSP)
• Wasco Airport, Wasco. (FAA: L19)

Chaparral comprises a considerable portion of the natural area within Kern County; the species diversity within these chaparral habitats, however, is considerably less than in many other regions of California.^[24] California Whitethorn is a prominent example of chaparral species on the rocky slopes of the Sierra Nevada as well as the Inner Coastal Ranges.^[25] California Buckeye is a notable tree found in both chaparral and forests and whose southern range terminates in Kern County.^[26]

Among the outdoor recreational activities are horseback riding, water skiing (Lake Buena Vista, Lake Ming, and private ski ranches), off-road biking and dune buggies (Jawbone Canyon, California City and Randsburg), auto racing (Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Bakersfield Speedway, Famoso, and an unnamed half-mile speedway under construction), hunting, paint-ball courses, white-water rafting, kayaking, snow skiing (Shirley Meadows and Mount Pinos), shooting ranges (5 Dogs Creek Range), hiking, biking (trails, paths, and roads), camping and fishing.

• The Bakersfield Californian [7], Kern County
• The Mountain Enterprise, southwest Kern mountains area
• Mojave Desert News [8], east Kern desert area
• The Daily Independent [9], Ridgecrest, China Lake, and The Indian Wells Valley
• The Kern Valley Sun, Kern Valley area
• The Tehachapi News, Tehachapi.
• Taft Midway Driller, Taft.
• The Delano Record, Delano.

• List of museums in the San Joaquin Valley
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California

• Hoover, Mildred Brooke (1990). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804717342. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Official website
• Kern government web portal
• Keysville Massacre, April 19, 1863 - original report from officer in charge.

35°20′N 118°43′W / 35.34°N 118.72°W / 35.34; -118.72