More Kern County Adventuring - 9/27/14

Today we ventured back up to Tulare and Kern County to hit a few sites we didn't have time for during our last visit.  Our first stop was Allensworth State Historic Park (CHL 1047).

Colonel Allensworth is a fascinating man-- he was born a slave who eventually became a Union soldier.  He became a chaplain in the Navy and rose to a rank of Lieutenant Colonel (he was the first African American to have that rank).  

The Colonel settled in Los Angeles when his illustrious military career was over.  He got the idea to found an all-black settlement where he and his fellows could live freely and away from prejudice.

In 1908 he founded Allensworth about thirty miles north of Bakersfield.  It was the first and only town in California that was financed, founded and governed by African-Americans.

The town valued education-- as you can see the large school-house above was one of the first structures they erected.

The coolest thing about this site is that you can tour it on your own, using your cell phone to hear information about the different buildings on the property.

Col. Allensworth and his wife spent some time here, but they remained primarily in Los Angeles where he continued to recruit people to come and live in Allensworth.

Their home, below, is furnished with some of the families artifacts.

It was fun to look inside the windows of the buildings to see how they would have looked in the early 1900's.

It would be great fun to visit again when they do one of their special events-- you can see the schedule of events here.

Sadly, the colony of Allensworth ceased to exist in the late 1960's when it was found that there was arsenic in the water supply.

Next we went to the Kern-County Museum for a free museum day.

This is an amazing place to walk through and spend some time, but there is not historic landmark here.

Kern County has moved many old buildings here...

and put them in one place...

to give people a sense of what it was like to live in rural Kern County.

Since oil is king in this county there was a great deal of information about oil drilling...

and a special exhibit on it inside a large building.

When we had explored for a bit, we moved on to more sites...

On the side of the road in the middle of oil country we came upon Gordon's Ferry (CHL 137).

This site was for an overhead cable ferry operated during the 1950's over the Kern River.

Our next site was behind a fenced area-- so we had to zoom in for Discovery Well of the Kern River Oilfield (CHL 290).

From the state:  Oil was discovered at 70 feet in 1899, when Tom Means persuaded Roe Elwood and Frank Wiseman, aided by Jonathan, Bert, Jed, and Ken Elwood, George Wiseman, and John Marlowe, to dig here for oil. On June 1, 1899, 400 feet to the north, Horace and Milton McWhorter drilled this region's first commercial well.

A short drive away we came to the Place where Francisco Garces Crossed the Kern River (CHL 278).

In 1776 Garces crossed the Kern River (which he called Rio de San Felipe) about a mile north of this plaque.  Garces' influence is celebrated all over this area-- as evidenced by his huge statue in Bakersfield (see our last Kern County post.)

Sadly there is only a plinth for CHL 660-- Point on the Jedediah Smith Trail.  The plaque would have read:  About February 1, 1827, Jedediah Strong Smith, first American to reach Mexican California overland, passed near this spot with his party of fur trappers. From San Gabriel Mission, the group was en route north to a land reported teeming with 'plenty of Beaver.' Smith and his men were trailblazers whose exploits soon led to the American conquest of California.

Smith was a colorful character who was the first American to travel up the Western Coast from Mexican California to Oregon.  He and his friend Robert Stuart discovered and charted the South Pass, which became the most traveled route from CA to OR in the early days.

Next we went to a church campus to find the Outermost Point in the South San Joaquin Valley (Visited by Padre Garces in 1776) CHL 371.

The plaque reads:  Padre Garcés, first recorded non-Indian to visit this locality, came in April of 1776, seeking a new route from Mexico to California. His epic journey covered more than two thousand miles of uncharted wilderness, opening trails that later became highways and railroads.

Our final site for the day was the Kern River Slough Station (CHL 588).

This was another stop along the Butterfield Overland Stage route which operated from 1858-1861.

More Adventuring in the OC-- 9/1/14

We have been so busy with all of the back to school activities that we haven't had much of a chance to continue on our adventure.  We decided to take Labor Day to hit more of the Orange County sites-- and to hit our 400th site!

 Our first stop was McFadden Wharf (CHL 794) in Newport Beach.  It was here in 1888 that the McFadden Brothers built a wharf that acted as the terminus of the Santa Ana and Newport Railway. 

 Through this wharf came most of the goods that were used to build in Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.

 When San Pedro became the major port of Los Angeles, the wharf was sold and it ceased to be used as much.

 This next site was very challenging to find-- we heard it was located in Castaways Park so we did a brisk walk through the park.

 It was a beautiful park with lots of friendly people and a cool tribute to the military... but there was no state plaque.

Since this was the site of the Old Landing (CHL 198) it seemed appopriate to take a photo showing where the water met the land.

As we were driving to our next site, Libi yelled, "There's a plaque!"  After a few amazing driving maneuvers on Ron's part we discovered the plaque for the Old Landing!  It was nowhere near the park!!!!

From the plaque:  On September 10, 1870, Captain Samuel S. Dunnells and William A. Abbott opened Newport Bay to commerce when they entered it for the first time on the sternwheel steamer Vaquero. The landing was designated 'Newport'-a new port-by James Irvine, Benjamin Flint, James McFadden, and Robert McFadden. The McFaddens operated a regular shipping service here during the 1870s and 1880s.

Good spotting Libi!!!

Our next site was a short drive away to the Balboa Pavilio CHL 959.

The plaque is located inside the business offices window, so please excuse the glare.

This site is famous for a few reasons:  one it is one of the few remaining waterfront recreational pavilions from the early 1900's.  It was built in 1905 by the Newport Bay Investment Company. 

In 1906, it became the southern terminus for the Pacific Electric Railway connecting the beach with downtown Los Angeles. The railway's Red Cars connected the beach with Los Angeles in only one hour.  If you look on the left side of the photo you can see the railway car.  (Photo credit to the Balboa Pavilion)

A short walk away was the Site of the First Water-to-Water Flight CHL 775.   There used to be a state plaque here, but we scoured the beach and the pier and couldn't find it, so the private plaque will have to do!

The state plaque said:  On May 10, 1912, Glenn L. Martin flew his own plane, built in Santa Ana, from the waters of the Pacific Ocean at Balboa to Catalina Island. This was the first water-to-water flight, and the longest and fastest overwater flight, to that date. On his return to the mainland, Martin carried the day's mail from Catalina-another first.

Glenn Martin was a fascinating character who began with an interest in kites as a child and ended up building military aircraft.  Eventually he would found two aerospace companies-- one you might be familiar with is Lockheed-Martin.

Our search for the plaque took us out onto the pier where we took some cute family photos.

Moving away from the beach we came to the Don Bernardo Yorba Ranchhouse Site (CHL 226).

The plaque says:  Here Don Bernardo Yorba created the greatest rancho of California's Golden Age, combining the Santa Ana Grant awarded to his father by the King of Spain in 1810 and lands granted to him by Governor José Figueroa in 1834. He was the third son of José Antonio Yorba, who came with Don Gaspar de Portolá in 1769 to establish California's first family.

This adobe was a u-shaped structure that had between 50-200 rooms (depending on which accounts you read.)  Sadly after Don Bernardo passed away the land was divided among his heirs and the house fell into ruin.  This is the last known photo of the once great adobe taken in 1919 before it was torn down completely to prevent further vandalism.  (Photo credit Don Meadows)

Next we ventured to a Presidential Library-- the Nixon Library to be precise.

Libi was excited to visit to get a stamp in her passport to Presidential Libraries book.

Neither Ron or I had ever been to this library-- so it was a fun excursion for the whole family.

They have lots of family memorabilia...

as well as Presidential artifacts...

and tributes to President Nixon.

Near President and the First Ladies final resting places was the site we came to see...

The Richard Nixon Birthplace (CHL 1015).

This home was built by Nixon's parents in 1912 from a kit.  

Richard Nixon was not only born here but he lived here until he was 9 years old.

The house still sits on the same plot of land as it did over 100 years ago and is furnished with many of the families artifacts.  Sadly we missed the tour of the interior of the home, but we did get to see some of it during the video they show as you arrive at the museum.

Our final stop for the day was located in a regional park, Olinda (CHL 918).

Olinda was a boom town formed due to oil fields in the surrounding areas.  It was also the boyhood home of baseball player, Walter Perry Johnson, who was a pitcher for the Washington Senators and holds many records still today.