First Baptist Church
The First Baptist Church, also known as the Bell Towers, is a prominent landmark in downtown Bakersfield. It was designed in 1931 by prolific Bakersfield architect Charles Howatt Biggar in the Mission Revival style. Blind arches and mullions rise to the roof level, giving the structure a Romanesque character. A prominent, 70 foot (21 meter) bell tower stands in the center of the south facade. It is considered one of the finest examples of a decorative concrete structure in the San Joaquin Valley. It is the only religious structure of its era to survive the 1952 Kern County earthquake that destroyed many of downtown Bakersfield’s historic structures. The congregation sold the building to the Bell Tower Associates in 1978 and it is now used as an office building. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bakersfield, Kern County
Photographer: John Bare