Kern County Museum
The main building of the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield was designed by Charles H. Biggar in 1927, completed in 1928 and officially opened as the Kern County Chamber of Commerce in September 1929. A letter from the Bakersfield Lion’s Club was published in 1929 in the local paper encouraging the citizens of Kern County to donate historical materials to the Chamber of Commerce. The enthusiastic response resulted in the founding of the Kern County Museum in 1941. Before long, the Museum encompassed the entire building. By 1952, growth of the Museum as a tourist attraction, ancillary educational facility, and as a community cultural center prompted the Chamber of Commerce to seek new quarters. The Beale Memorial Clock Tower, destroyed in the 1952 earthquake, was rebuilt in front of the museum in 1964. It is listed in the Bakersfield Register of Historic Places.
Bakersfield, Kern County
Photographer: John Bare