Weedpatch (formerly Weed Patch and Alexander's Corner) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

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 ...

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 ...

, United States. Weedpatch is south-southeast of

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 ...

. It is considered to be one of the poorest areas in Kern County. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,658.

Geography

The community, which lies at an elevation of , is situated off State Route 184 (Weedpatch Highway) southeast of Bakersfield, south of Lamont and about south of State Route 58. It is at . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Weedpatch has an area of .

History

Although the name "Weed Patch" was applied to the site as early as 1874, the community began only in 1922. The town was also named "Alexander's Corner" in honor of Cal Alexander, a resident. Weedpatch is the site of the Arvin Federal Government Camp, known colloquially (and in the

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

novel ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

)'' as "Weedpatch Camp". This camp was a government rescue center for distressed

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s fleeing the Oklahoma

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The camp still aids migrant workers and is south of Weedpatch on Sunset just off Weedpatch Highway.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Weedpatch had a population of 2,658, with a

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

of $28,075 and just above 45.8% living at or below the

poverty level The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. It is considered to have a young population, with a median age of 22.7."Weedpatch Is Waiting to See the Light," ''Bakersfield Californian,'' February 21, 2010
/ref> The racial makeup of Weedpatch was 1,212 (45.6%)

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8 (0.3%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 78 (2.9%) Native American, 14 (0.5%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1,237 (46.5%) from other races, and 109 (4.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2,484 persons (93.5%).

Notable people

Rachel Hollis Rachel Hollis (;) is an American author, motivational speaker, and mommyblogs, blogger. She is the author of three self-help books, including ''Girl, Wash Your Face'' and ''Girl, Stop Apologizing''. Early life and education After graduating fro ...

, author

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Kern County, California Populated places established in 1922 Census-designated places in California