My Favorite Local Architect

Please see my other post "The McDougalls: A Family of Architects in Bakersfield" for more information about the McDougall family (they really are my favorite!)

Yes, I have a favorite local architect, and it’s not the obvious choice of Biggar or Cullemore. My favorite local architect is Benjamin McDougall! You probably haven’t heard of him, but if you have lived in Bakersfield for any length of time, you are familiar with his work. Benjamin came to Bakersfield with the firm B. McDougall & Sons. Benjamin was one of the sons. B. McDougall & Sons consisted of Barnett McDougall (1825-1905) and his sons, Charles C. (1857-1930), Benjamin G. (1865-1937), and George B. (1868-1957). Barnett McDougall was born in New York and came to California in 1856. He was a pioneer builder/architect with offices in San Diego and San Francisco.

Charles, Benjamin, and George along with their sister Nellie (1863-1898) were born in San Francisco. All three sons trained in their father’s office while Benjamin also studied at the California School of Design. When Barnett retired from the firm, the sons formed McDougall Brothers. A brief but great biography of the McDougalls is available here: http://historicfresno.org/bio/mcdougal.htm

The earliest Bakersfield building that I have been able to attribute to the McDougalls is the Southern Hotel, which was completed in March 1889. Unfortunately, fire destroyed the building three months after it was completed. In fact, the Great Fire of 1889 destroyed much of Bakersfield. The Great Fire consumed fifteen blocks, 147 businesses, 44 homes, 5 hotels, and about 1,500 people were left homeless. Rebuilding was rapid. Less than a year after the fire, California Superintendent of Public Education commented, “No better evidence is needed of the energy, enterprise and true pluck of the people of Bakersfield, than the fact that since the great fire, there has been completed, or are now in process of completion $620,000 worth of new and substantial buildings. It does one good to be amongst such people if only for a short time” (1890, 2/17, Sacramento Daily Union, V62, #153, Schools and Things).

To complete the work, architects, contractors, carpenters, and brickworkers flocked to Bakersfield. Because of their previous work in the town, the McDougalls were uniquely situated to take advantage of the building boom. For the next fifteen years or so, most major buildings in Bakersfield were designed by the McDougalls.

The entire McDougall family lived in Bakersfield at one time or another, but Benjamin seemed to have spent the most time in our city. For a time, he and is wife lived in Bakersfield and their first child was born in Bakersfield. Benjamin eventually returned to San Francisco where he built up a lucrative career. I’ve been searching high and low for buildings designed by the family, and HERE is a list of what I have found.

(I removed the list because it was becoming more and more cumbersome to edit. Please see the link for the list! thanks!)