The Bakersfield Guy's Newsletter! Issue #9

We're back after a brief intermission. Note to self, getting robbed is not fun. Let's not do that again. With a week off it means I got 2 weeks full of ideas! I even had to cutback on some of the segments because I didn't want to have too much for you guys. An FYI, the events list has been moved to the bottom of the newsletter. Make sure to stick around to see what is going on in Bakersfield this week. Let me know how you guys feel about that?

Author

Bakersfield Guy
August 21, 2025

Thank you guys!

You guys are awesome. I announced what happened last week, and so many of you reached out to check on my family and I to see how we were doing from reddit, IG, emails and more. I really appreciate you guys. Just the type of community I want to build. We’re getting there slowly.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program!

Local News

Bucks Owens’ Crystal Palace.

The Crystal Palace in all its glory

The current owners of the Crystal Palace, the Buck Owens private foundation, had a big announcement on instagram a few days ago.

Via IG

This has caused a great outcry from the community, and rightfully so. Buck Owens dream that he made a reality is in serious jeopardy. It appears that the group is now looking for a buyer to take over the historical Bakersfield location. I’ve seen rumblings that it will go on sale for 7million American dollars.

Needless to say this is far from the last we’ve heard of what is to come for the building, business and museum. I’ll be keeping an eye out and keep you guys updated. A Bakersfield History piece on Buck Owens is definitely something I have to work on at some point as well. Look for that sometime in the future!

Remembering the past. Bakersfield History

The Great Bakersfield Fire of 1889.

On July 7th 1889 around 8am it was just a regular Sunday in the small town of Bakersfield. By high noon a nightmare had happened; 196 buildings were destroyed, 1,500 people out of about 2,500 total were homeless and one man was dead because of a fire that started in a kitchen.

You read that right, out of a total population of 2,500, about 1,500 were left homeless because of a fire that raged on for 3 hours!

The fire started in a family kitchen, and by 9am firefighter were called to the scene. By the time they were trying to put it out, one fire hydrant was not going to be enough to put out the fire. The homes of that time were made of wood so it was spreading quickly. They connected the second fire hydrant and tried to put out the fire, but quickly realized that there wasn’t enough water pressure to put out the fires. This meant that the fire was going to run for as long as it was on its on course unbothered.

The grand tally was immense. 15 city blocks, 147 businesses, 44 homes, 5 hotels, and a total of 196 buildings were destroyed. This was most of the town.

The Bakersfield leaders of the time acted quickly and constructed a plan to support a population that was much bigger than the 2,500 or so at the time. This took our little town of the era and lead to the blueprint for it to become a city. About a decade later in 1900, the town had grown to 4,836! Just imagine if the leaders of the era had packed it up and decided it was too hard to rebuild and it would cost too much money. Where would we all be today? I will be drinking a beer in their honor TONIGHT.

Chester area before the fire

Chester area after the fire!

Ruins of china town. Who even knew we had one, and had one way back in 1889

One crazy detail about this was that the Kern Valley Bank pictured below had its grand opening the day before the town burned down. Look at how it looked a day later. What a stroke of unfortunate luck.

Kern Valley Bank before

Kern Valley Bank after the fire

Looking south on Chester from 20th st.

Absolute devastation

Thank you to Mark Mcgowan from facebook for the awesome pictures he posted years ago. More on mark in the Creator of the Week segment!

Creator of the Week

Mark Mcgowan

As I was looking for some great pictures of the Bakersfield fire of 1889, I finally stumbled upon some really good ones. Mark had posted some great pictures years ago. Come to find out that he even has a great YouTube channel that talks about everything trains and railroads! A lot of his work and what he talks about revolves around Kern County. Give Mark’s channel a look and a sub if it’s something that interests you! Thank you Mark McGowan! Here’s his YouTube channel

🎟️ Events This Week: August 23rd-29th

💡 Click the event name for tickets or more info.

Last note. I don’t know at what time stuff fell out of order with time but it did. Sorry stuff isn’t in order. I’ll work on getting that right next week.

Thursday, August 21

Friday, August 22

Saturday, August 23

Sunday, August 24

Tuesday, August 26

Wednesday, August 27

Opportunities

That’s it for this week.

That’s a wrap on the 9th issue of my newsletter. Thanks again, I can’t say it enough. Thanks for the love I continue to see. I’m grateful for you guys.

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📩 Got an event, business, or rumor I should feature? Hit reply or email me at [email protected].

The Bakersfield Guy