The Kern County Hall of Records is a government building in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is the repository of records for

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

. The building is located in the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

. Constructed in 1909, it is the longest continuously used government building in the county. It is also one of the few government buildings to survive the 1952 earthquake.

History

Originally the Kern County Courthouse was the repository of records in the county. However, by the mid-1900s, more room was needed to store the records. The Hall of Records building was constructed in 1909, across the street from the courthouse (which is where

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

is located today). The structure was designed in the Beaux Arts style by Robert Train and Robert Williams. The structure had large windows, and a rotunda. There was a flaw in the design. The large windows and rotunda would collect and trap heat. By 1939, it was decided to remodel the structure. The county also changed its architectural standards for government buildings. In 1939, architect Francis W. Wynkoop was hired. The structure would be remodeled into the

PWA Moderne The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most notable examples are the skyscrapers of New York City, including the ...

style. The rotunda was covered up and the statues on the roof were removed. The size of the windows were reduced and replaced with an increased use of electric lighting. Most of the intricate exterior design features were covered over. In 1988, the building was renovated. Architect Bill Tuculet and Klassen Corporation was hired for the reconstruction. The building was repainted in the original multi-color design (at some point it was repainted completely white). Also, storm doors were added to the front of the structure.

References

External links

* {{Downtown Bakersfield County government buildings in California h Buildings and structures in Bakersfield, California Government buildings completed in 1909 PWA Moderne architecture in California