BAKERSFIELD

city, seat (1875) of Kern county, south-central California, U.S., in the San Joaquin Valley. It was founded along the Los Angeles and Stockton road in 1869 by Thomas Baker, who reclaimed swamplands along the nearby Kern River. It was an agricultural trade centre for the mines of the Sierra Nevada and the Owens Valley in the 1870s. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached the town in 1874 and the Santa Fe Railway did in 1898. Both railroads established workshops at Bakersfield. San Francisco capitalists, acquiring large-scale landholdings in the area, helped to develop an extensive irrigation system to distribute the waters of the Kern River, after which the region became important in the production of grain, alfalfa, and livestock. The discovery of the Kern River oil fields in 1899 brought an extensive petroleum industry, which was centred at Bakersfield. The town was quickly rebuilt after a fire destroyed the business section in 1889 and again after an earthquake brought widespread damage in 1952. Bakersfield grew steadily throughout the 20th century, with expanding petroleum-based industries, livestock raising, and the mechanized farming of potatoes, grapes, alfalfa, cotton, and grain. Nearby vineyards produce about one-fourth of the wine made in California. The city has diversified industries manufacturing steel products, textiles, bedding materials, and electronic parts. Tourism is also important. Two important aerospace facilities, the Naval Ordnance Test Station and Edwards Air Force Flight Test Center, are nearby. California State University, Bakersfield, was founded in 1965. Inc. 1898. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 187,985; Bakersfield MSA, 563,678.