Tamales! Red-Hot Tamales!

On their Facebook page, The Bakersfield Californian recently asked, “Christmas is here and we’re wondering where you go to get your holiday tamales?” Growing up in California, this question seems perfectly reasonable, but when I shared the question with my midwest and east-coast friends, they were both confused and amused. “Holiday tamales?” they asked, and I assured them that holiday tamales were indeed “a thing.” 

Tamales are ubiquitous in California’s Central Valley as well as throughout much of the American west and southwest. In Hispanic families, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, nieces, and extended female relatives gather during the holidays and, in an assembly-line fashion, make these cornmeal delicacies. Most of the tamales are for friends and family to enjoy, but some entrepreneurial women pack the tamales into ice chests (often the styrofoam kind that bait shops stock) and sell tamales door-to-door in business districts, set up little stands on busy street corners, or sell to their coworkers. Currently (2014), one of my coworkers has fliers posted in the break rooms advertising homemade tamales (chicken, beef, or cheese) for $3.00 a piece.  Tamales and tamale vendors have a long and interesting history, and while Bakersfield is certainly not unique, Bakersfield’s tamale history shows that the delicacy has been been “a thing” for a long time.

Tamales are the perfect convenience food: they can easily be prepared and cooked in bulk; are already perfectly portioned; and the corn husk in which they are cooked provides an easily portable receptacle, which later doubles as both plate and napkin. While considered a Mexican food today, tamales are actually Native American and could be found throughout the Americas wherever corn was grown. For example, Captain John Smith found Native Americans in the Virginia colony preparing a tamale-like food in 1612!

By the 19th century, tamales were associated with Mexican culture (or, even more confusing, Spanish culture) but were enjoyed by all walks of life. Specialized tamale vendors date back to at least the 1890s. In 1892, Robert H. Putnam of San Francisco founded the California Chicken Tamale Company with the goal to sell tamales throughout the country. That year, he had approximately 500 tamale vendors in Chicago in preparation for the World’s Fair. It doesn’t appear that any of the California Chicken Tamale Company’s tamale vendors were in Bakersfield, but Bakersfield had its own thriving tamale industry. On December 6, 1892, the Californian (a predecessor to today’s Bakersfield Californian) featured an article entitled “The Tamale Industry” that chronicles the tamale and tamale vendor in Bakersfield and throughout California:

The tamale man is not to be despised in any California community. From the rising of the sun to the going down thereof peace may reign, but when the shades of evening gather and the night is fully clothed in the somber garments of Erebus and silence sits ‘neath the stars in all the loveliness of June or December, the circumambient air is disturbed by the melodious cry of the vendor:

“Tamales! Red-hot tamales! Only ten cents apiece, or three for a quarter. Buy my tamales."

With bucket in hand he trudges along, and again, as if life depended upon the possession of one of his manufactured specimens of Spanish invention, he again cries out:

“Tamale; chicken tamale; fresh and hot chicken tamale”

And perchance he finds a purchaser, who unrolls the canny bundle wrapped in corn husks, fishing therefrom the layers of corn meal baked in steam and occasionally the bone of a chicken - probably a rabbit or squirrel or what is it? All these ingredients are so fantastically spiced with Chili pepper and other condiments that the most exquisite connoisseurs could not detect a fraud. His lips tingle with the sharp pricklings of the peppers, and he opens his mouth to invite the cool air, but he has a vast amount of courage in suppressing the thoughts and suggestions that take shape.

On every train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and still on to a point where the

observation of man runneth not to the contrary, this eloquent and obtrusive vendor of the sacred tamale is found at every station during the night.

They have plants everywhere for the manufacture of this commodity, and in the still hours of the night the baleful voice of the vender [sic] is heard, regular as the town clock, until every light is extinguished and every brothel is closed. In Bakersfield and in Sumner the fiend has a home and a plant. Chickens do not seem to diminish nor prices increase. The jack-rabbit flourishes and the squirrel has his hole in the ground, but the tamale goes on forever - the chicken tamale.

The article references train station and brothels - both areas frequented by hungry men looking for a fast and cheap meal. In the 1890s, most of Bakersfield’s brothels were found in the area around 20th and K streets. At the time the above article was written, the only train depot was located in Sumner (East Bakersfield). In 1901, there were at least three separate tamale vendors who set up shop near the train depot, and in January they had an argument: “The three hot tamale vendors, who can be seen near the depot every night, had some kind of misunderstanding late last night and resolved to settle the difficulty with their fists. For several minutes a lively fight ensued, but finally two of the participants withdrew leaving the third to sell his wares as he saw fit to sell them.”

Not only were tamales sold by street vendors, but saloons also sold the delicacies. In 1903, the Peerless Saloon at 1819 Chester sold their “celebrated Peerless tamales” for 25 cents each or 3 for 50 cents. It is unclear why the  tamales were “celebrated.”

There was often a question of the quality of the tamales (Was that meat really chicken?). In 1905, the Louvre saloon at 19th and K (in the heart of Bakersfield’s red light district) assured customers that their tamales “will be of the finest quality and a lady who has had years of experience has been engaged to devote her entire time to making them for the Louvre.” 

In 1905, a restaurant specializing in tamales opened up at Chester avenue and 20th street: “Mrs. Cress, late of Fresno, will open her tamale grotto at 2011 Chester avenue, opposite the Grand Hotel, tomorrow night, and those fond of this delicacy or of Spanish dishes generally will do well to give Mrs. Cress a call. She has had a long experience in the business and is an expert in the line named.” The Tamale Grotto also served enchiladas and “Spanish dinners.” In 1909, the Tamale Grotto moved to 1528 Twentieth Street.

Tamales weren’t strictly a street food or food served to working or drinking men. Tamales were also served in the respectable parts of town. On January 25, 1894, the ladies of the Christian Endeavor Society hosted a “Hot Tamale Social,” which The Daily Californian reported was  “well attended and the tamales could not be excelled in quality and tamaleness by all of Mexico. Quite a handsome sum was netted for the benefit of Rev. A. B. Markle.” Tamales were also sold at fundraisers for the ladies’ auxiliaries of St. Paul’s Episcopal church as well as St. Francis Catholic church during the early 1900s. Various clubs and fraternal organizations also had tamale dinners during their meetings. In 1905, some Bakersfield residents even started the “Tamale Club,” but for what purpose is unclear although it seems like card games were usually played at meetings. 

The next time you open up the warm cornhusk wrapper and bite into the delicious cornmeal mush, remember that you are enjoying a taste that has been enjoyed for generations and by people from all walks of life.

For additional information about the tamale phenomena, please see:

Gourmet Sleuth - Tamales
and
SF Weekly - When We Were Red Hot

The Notorious Withington Family

Although most people in Bakersfield have never heard of the Withington family, at one time, they were one of Bakersfield’s most notorious families and owned much of Bakersfield’s redlight district. During Bakersfield’s early years, the activities of the family and their business were regularly in the news and were read about salaciously  By 1915, after Bakersfield authorities cracked down on illicit activities, Carlie Withington moved the family business to Mexicali. Along with Frank Beyer and Marvin Allen (ABW syndicate), he opened the Owl Cafe and Theatre, which at one time was the largest gambling resort in North America that included drinking, drugs, gambling, and prostitution. 

Carlie’s father Robert Withington, the patriarch of the family, came to Kern County even before Havilah became the county seat. While living in Havilah, he operated a freighting business between the Kern County mountains and Los Angeles. In 1870 or 1871, he moved down the hill to Bakersfield and purchased a large amount of property around 19th and K streets where he built a house (2005 K Street) and saloon. The saloon, near 19th and K, was the the third business in town after Livermore & Chester’s stage station and Herman Hirshfeld’s mercantile store. In 1873, Robert was one of the Trustees of Bakersfield’s First Incorporation and a signer of the petition to the Kern County board of supervisors asking to move the county seat from Havilah to Bakersfield. Robert was also a deputy sheriff in the 1890s and ran for constable in 1894. The Grand Jury later accused him of bribing voters, and he was indicted but charges were finally dropped. 

In 1889, Withington’s saloon was destroyed in the Great Fire that destroyed most of downtown Bakersfield. His loss was estimated at $4,000, but he quickly rebuilt. In Little Dramas of Old Bakersfield Rush Blodget wrote, “The big fire of 1889 burned your saloon, but you did not allow your patrons to thirst for long. With true western enterprise, you were telling the boys to line up and christen the new pine bar.” In addition to his saloon, he also leased part of his new building to M. Goldberg who had the C.O.D. store on the corner of 19th and K. The building also initially housed a barbershop and a restaurant.

Robert’s wife was Rachel Freeman, a daughter of a baptist minister. Together, they had nine children who lived to adulthood: John, Harriett (or Hattie), Robert, Callie Belle, Carlie, Claude, Lester, Norma, and Lysle. In one way or another, all of the children were involved in the family business. Robert died in 1897 at the age of 58 and Rachel followed a few years later in 1902.

The saloon was simply Withington’s saloon until 1900 when it started appearing in newspaper accounts as the Owl. It is unclear if, in addition to peddling liquor, Robert was also involved in prostitution, but by the time the saloon began to be called the Owl, the Withington family and the Owl were synonymous with the tenderloin and all that it entailed. Also by 1900, the Owl and related businesses, which included a boarding house, dancehall, and rows of cribs, were located at the northwest corner of 20th and L streets. On the saloon’s former site on 19th Street, they built a large brick building costing approximately $20,000, which they first leased to Thomas O’Brien for a saloon. In 1909, the Withingtons further expanded into prostitution and built 20 more cribs at the northwest corner of 20th and M streets. This brought the number of these small, one-room apartments from which prostitutes plied their trade to about 125. Women rented cribs for $1-$3 a day and then kept their earnings. The 1900 Bakersfield city directory listed Carlie’s occupation as “collector” suggesting that he collected the rent from the cribs’ tenants.

Eldest son John started managing the family business sometime in the 1890s, and this continued until his violent death in 1902. A little before midnight on August 2, 1902, John and his latest consort, one of his dancehall employees named Kittie York (aka “Fresno Kittie,” “Blonde Kittie,” and “Long Kittie”), left the Owl and walked to the City Restaurant on L street between 19th and 20th. While they were sitting down to dinner, Kittie’s ex-lover “Kid” Robbins walked in and shot Kittie pointe blank in the head. “Kid” then shot John in the stomach when he stood to confront “Kid.” Kittie died instantly while John lingered for just a few minutes. John was not the first Withington to meet a violent end. Two years earlier, 19-year-old Claude fell from the train while returning to Bakersfield from Fresno. His trunk was found suspended from the train’s braking unit, and the rest of his body was found scattered near Kingsburg. A unique scar on his thumbnail identified him.

After John’s death, Carlie took over managing the family business, and for a time, Lester managed the saloon. The Withingtons also had property that included saloons, brothels, dancehalls, and theatres in other towns including Reno, Nevada and San Francisco. In 1910, Carlie took a lease on vaudeville house on Market Street in San Francisco.

Bakersfield incorporated in 1898, and Bakersfield citizens began calling for the cleaning up of the redlight district soon after. In February 1904, the Kern County Grand Jury issued their report, and in regards to the redlight district, they wrote:

There is a law upon the statute books of this state (section 316 of the Penal Code) which prohibits the renting of property for the purpose of prostitution but being a misdemeanor it is with out the province of the grand jury. It is unquestionably for the best interests of Bakersfield that this law should be enforced and the time to enforce it is NOW. The property referred to is almost in the heart of Bakersfield, it adjoins the business district, and a portion of the residence district of the city.

The first attack on the district came during the 1905 liquor-license renewal process. The city trustees delayed in issuing the licenses while they investigated the saloons to see if illegal activity was taking place in them - mainly allowing entrance to minors and housing prostitutes. After a short time, the saloon owners sued the city, and the city trustees relented and issued liquor licenses. In the meantime, Carlie was arrested for operating a saloon without a license, but the charge was dropped after the Owl was granted its license. Although it was fairly obvious that saloons and dancehalls were associated with the brothels and cribs, it apparently couldn’t be proven. Also city trustees seemed to have mostly ignored the prostitution because not only did the city profit from the district but so too did many of the trustees. That year, the city made $13,000 from the liquor license applications alone, and the city granted City Trustee Ronald McDonald a wholesale liquor license. Later that year, McDonald was elected mayor, to which the outgoing mayor declared “the election is a victory for the ‘wide open town.’"  City leaders also had a more intimate relationship with the proprietors of redlight district; in 1909, Carlie borrowed $1,000 from McDonald for unknown purposes.

Throughout the early 1900s, outspoken citizens continued to harangue city officials to clean up the district, and the Owl continued to make sensational headlines. In March 1906, two dancehall girls were rescued from the Owl by evangelist “Mother” Florence Roberts. She took the girls to her halfway house in San Jose. A month later, a man was sentenced to 20 days in jail for beating a woman in the Owl. In October 1907, “Curly” Cameron shot and killed Jerry McElvain with a shotgun in the Owl saloon due to jealousy over the the affection of two dancehall girls. Cameron was arrested in the home of Lester Withington. In January 1908, an oilfield laborer accused the Owl of stealing $3,000 from him. Carlie’s accounting showed that the laborer spent that money in pursuits at the Owl in one night and in fact owed the Owl an additional $100. In September 1908, two women got into a fight in the Owl which resulted in one being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Carlie furnished her bail. 

In 1908, the Owl was raided and Carlie was arrested for renting property for the purpose of prostitution. He posted his $150 bail and was released. From newspaper accounts, nothing seems to have come from his arrest. In January 1909, when the Owl’s liquor license was again up for its yearly renewal, its accompanying dancehall was closed in order to make getting the license easier. Once the license was issued, the dancehall reopened. 

Ironically, the end of the Owl in Bakersfield was brought on by another denizen of Bakersfield’s redlight district. In December 1911, brothel owner Madame Brignaudy sued Carlie and other crib owners alleging that their cribs posed a menace to the occupants of her “rooming house” as well as brought down her property’s value. Additional property owners joined the suit, and feeling the pressure, Carlie closed the cribs but continued operating the saloon and moved girls into the rooming house above the saloon. Two months later, Madame Brignaudy alleged a complaint that Carlie was operating a brothel. At the same time, the Owl was denied its liquor license. Carlie closed the Owl in Bakersfield but his illicit activities continued. With the profitability of the West Side oilfields, Carlie moved his business to Boust City, a settlement devoted to drinking, gambling, and prostitution outside of Taft, where he built a saloon and associated cribs. Residents of Taft soon called for the cleaning up of Boust City.

By 1915, Carlie had moved his business across the California-Mexico border to Mexicali and, along with Frank Beyer and Marvin Allen (ABW syndicate), opened up the Owl Cafe and Theatre. Carlie managed the prostitution, which included over 300 women, while his associates managed the saloon and gambling. The casino advertised itself as “the largest gambling house on the American continent.” and had roulette wheels and tables for keno, faro, and poker. Liquor was served at “the longest bar in the in world.” In addition to the Owl in Mexicali, the syndicate also had clubs in Tijuana and Algodones. In Tijuana, they controlled the Monte Carlo, the Tivoli Bar, the Foreign Club, and horse racing at the Jockey Club. Carlie brought many of his employees and associates with him to Mexicali. In June 1915, one visitor to Mexicali noted that “there are enough ex-Bakersfield people in Mexicali to start a ‘Bak Home Club.’”

Although Carlie moved the prostitution business to Mexicali, the Withington’s retained ownership of their property in Bakersfield. The family leased their Bakersfield cribs to Madame Brignaudy until the city forced their closure after California passed the Red Light Abatement Act in 1913. Prostitution in Bakersfield continued (and continues) in one form or another.

When Carlie died in 1925, he left an impressive estate of more than $3,000,000. A portion of his estate went to his estranged wife, $20,000 was left to Lucille Moore, his latest girlfriend and former dancehall girl, and the rest was split equally among his surviving siblings - Hattie, Callie, Norma, and Lysle, with Lysle serving as executor.

While it doesn’t seem that Lysle and sisters worked directly in the family business, they profited from it. Carlie and Hattie were made executors of their father’s estate after his death, and they continued to manage the estate together until their siblings came of age. After Carlie’s death in 1925, his surviving siblings inherited his assets and took over managing the rental property in Bakersfield and elsewhere.

• Carlie: Carlie married at least 3 times. On February 14, 1908, his wife Edna (whom the San Francisco newspapers called a “young society matron”) died in a bathhouse in San Francisco. Another wife, Elizabeth, died in 1917 in Calexico after taking poison. When he died in 1925, he was married to Georgia Mae, whom he had married in 1919. They had been estranged for some time prior to his death, and he had been living with “cafe entertainer” Lucille Moore.
• Hattie: Hattie married blacksmith George LeMay in 1892. In 1942, the family home on K Street caught fire, and Hattie and her sister Norma succumbed in the flames.
• Robert: Robert died soon after his father in 1897. He was 29 years old.
• Callie Belle: Callie Belle was married to bartender William Sweitzer. He died in 1910. She was made administrator of the family’s estate after the death of her sisters in 1942. She died in 1951 in Los Angeles.
• Lester: Lester married Sylvia Burganne in 1914 in San Joaquin County. He may have been married once before. He died in 1918.  
• Norma: Norma never married. As a child and young adult, she was often ill and often went to the coast to convalesce. In 1942, she died along with her sister, Hattie, when the family home on K Street went up in flames.
• Lysle:  Lysle worked as a cashier for the Bank of Bakersfield and later Security Trust Bank. He served in WWI. In February 1915, he married Willie May Hays, and less than a month later, his bride sued him for abandonment. He countersued for an annulment, and she later sued his siblings for turning his affections away from her. It seems that they reconciled, for the 1930 census shows them living together. He died in 1967.

Right To Die, 1897

Today, I found this editorial in the Daily Californian from January 23, 1897 and thought it was interesting considering what has been in the news recently about Brittany Maynard and her right to die. Bakersfield takes a rather progressive stance.

As transcribed:

"Some of our contemporaries seem disposed to think that Miss Nettie Curran of Oakland is guilty of a high crime. It appears that her father, Thomas Curran, being afflicted with a painful disease that incapacitated him from labor, decided to find surcease in the great beyond. So he took a dose of poison, bade his daughter farewell, told here what he had done and why, and laid down to die. The daughter, in pursuance of her father's wishes, let him carry out his desire and he died. We fail to see wherein she is to blame. If a man under the conditions noted desires to join the majority, why not let him do so? Is there any kindness in keeping him here to suffer? We put diseased and injured animals to death from sentiments of mercy and kindness. Why not let a human animal remove himself from incurably suffering?"

The McDougalls: A Family of Architects in Bakersfield

On July 7, 1889, a massive fire consumed most of Bakersfield. Gone were fifteen blocks, 147 businesses, 44 homes, 5 hotels, and about 1,500 people were left homeless. Rebuilding Bakersfield after what came to be called “The Great Fire” 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.”

To complete the work, architects, contractors, carpenters, and brickworkers flocked to Bakersfield. Having already designed two substantial buildings in Bakersfield, one architectural firm was well situated to take advantage of Bakersfield’s post-fire building boom. McDougall and Son had come to Bakersfield in 1888 to design two buildings - the Southern Hotel (Chester Avenue and 19th Street) and Kern Valley Bank (Chester Avenue and 18th Street). The fire destroyed the Southern Hotel, which was completed in March, and only the walls were left of the Kern Valley Bank, which was under construction at the time of the fire. Soon after the cinders cooled, construction of the Southern Hotel and Kern Valley Bank resumed, and both were completed in 1890. McDougall and Son was the architectural firm chosen in the majority of instances following the fire, and, as noted by The San Francisco Call, immediately following the fire “erected some thirty buildings there to replace those burned down.”

McDougall and Son consisted of Barnett McDougall (1825-1905) and his sons, Charles C. (1857-1930), Benjamin G. (1865-1937), and George B. (1868-1957). After Barnett retired in the mid 1890s, the brothers renamed the firm McDougall Bros. Barnett McDougall was born in New York and came to California in 1856. During the 1860s through the 1880s, 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 (now San Francisco Fine Arts Institute).

In 1890, Benjamin and George, who had just recently joined the firm, represented the firm in Bakersfield while Barnett and Charles managed the main office in San Francisco. In 1891, Benjamin, George, and Nellie boarded at the house newly completed by William Howell. When corresponding with her brother, William Howell’s sister Teresa frequently wrote about the comings and goings of the McDougalls. For example, she wrote that “Geo McDougall is very entertaining; plays well on the piano. Played by the hour for us yesterday. He is about as irrepressible as his brother.” Once located at 1626 17th Street, the Howell House is now at the Kern County Museum, and although the museum asserts that another architect designed the house, there is strong evidence that suggests that the McDougalls designed what The Weekly Californian called the “tastiest ever constructed in Bakersfield.”

In the 1890s, a few of the known buildings the firm designed included the Weill’s Department Store (1889), Galtes Block (1889), Kern River Flour Mill (1891), Bakersfield School (Bryant School) (1891), Dr. Walter Snook residence (1891), Abia T. Lightner residence (1891), First M.E. Church, South (1892), Noriega Building (1893), Rosedale School (1893), Walters Hotel (1893), Luis V. Olcese residence (1893), Kern County Courthouse Renovation and Annex (1894), Hall of Records (1894), Kern County Hospital (1894), Schurra Building (1897), Vineland School (1897), Rockpile School (1897), J. B. Berges Livery Stables (1898), and Ambrose-Curran Building (1899). By 1895, with Barnett in semi-retirement, Charles and George managed the firm in San Francisco while Benjamin continued to represent the firm’s Central Valley interests from its Bakersfield headquarters. In 1895, The Daily Californian noted: “Mr. B. G. McDougall has been so long a resident of Bakersfield and is so thoroughly identified with its building interests that B. McDougall and Son are looked upon quite as a local firm. Mr. McDougall is a skilled and experienced architect, and commands the confidence and esteem of Bakersfield to a marked degree.”

In addition to designing buildings, Benjamin also dabbled in land speculation. In 1892, Benjamin invested with W. E. Houghton and H. A. Blodget in the Union Avenue Colony. They had Union Avenue south of Bakersfield graded and planted 1,000 trees, many of them eucalyptus. The 20-acre parcels were reported to be in great demand, but, unfortunately, the financial panic of 1893 bankrupted the project.

McDougall and Son initially shared office space with Thomas Sweet’s Wells Fargo office in the Kern Valley Bank after it was rebuilt following the fire. In 1893, the firm moved into the Galtes Block, which the firm designed following the fire. Benjamin also oversaw its renovation - including a new facade - in 1897. In October 1897, the firm built its new headquarters at Eye and Wall Streets, and The Daily Californian noted that it was “a queer looking structure. Being an architect, Mr. McDougall did not draw any plans and the reason the building looks that way is because that’s the way it happened to come out.” Unfortunately, a photograph of this “queer looking structure” has not been found.

In May 1896, Benjamin married Frances Hawkins, a stenographer with the Kern County Land Company. Benjamin’s sister Nellie lived with the young couple at their home on 16th Street. Suffering from tuberculosis, Nellie had moved to Bakersfield from San Francisco for the drier air and regularly took trips to San Emidio for the fresh air and cool climate. In 1897, Benjamin and Frannie, as she was called, welcomed the first of their three children while living in Bakersfield.

In October 1898, Nellie McDougall died in Bakersfield from a hemorrhage of the lung. She had spent that summer in San Francisco and had recently returned to Bakersfield at the time of her death. Her death seems to mark a turning point for the firm in Bakersfield, and, the following year, Benjamin moved the firm’s Central Valley headquarters to Fresno while maintaining a satellite office in the Ambrose-Curran building in East Bakersfield. Although continuing to design buildings in Bakersfield, his primary focus turned to building up the northern part of the valley. While in Fresno, he again dabbled in land speculation, albeit this time more successfully. Along with a Fresno developer, he built up the prominent North Park subdivision where he built a substantial home for his growing family.

In 1906, disaster once again benefited the McDougall family. Following the San Francisco earthquake, McDougall Bros. closed its Fresno office, and Benjamin moved to Berkeley and opened his own firm. His most significant Bay Area buildings include the Shattuck Hotel (1909-10), Standard Oil Company Building (1911), and Oakland Federal Building (1913). George and Charles continued as McDougall Bros. until George was appointed State Architect in 1913, a post he held until 1938. Charles maintained a small practice and shared office space with Benjamin..

In 1895, The Daily Californian noted: “To mention all the buildings of Bakersfield designed by this firm would require that we make a list, not only of by far the greater part of the public buildings, churches, school houses and business blocks, but of scores of residences as well.” Although it would have been helpful if the Californian had indeed included a list, I have been able to compile a list of the firm’s Bakersfield projects including: Southern Hotel (1889 and 1890), Kern Valley Bank (1890), Weill Block (1889), Galtes Block (1889), Hirshfeld Block (1889), Kern River Flour Mill (1891), Bakersfield School House (1891), Dr. Walter Snook residence (1891), Abia T. Lightner residence (1891), First M.E. Church, South (1892), Robert Arnold residence (1892), Noriega Building (1893), Rosedale School (1893), Walters Hotel (1893), Luis V. Olcese residence (1893), C. L. Hollis residence (1893), Dr. Herman Lemke residence (1893), Courthouse Annex (1894), Hall of Records (1894), Kern County Hospital (1894), Mrs. William Tyler residence (1894), Courthouse fence (1896), Schurra Building (1897), Vineland School (1897), Rockpile School (1897), Lakeview School (1897), J. B. Berges Livery Stables (1898), Guild Hall for St. Paul’s Parish (1898), Southern Hotel Addition (1898), Ambrose-Curran Building (1899), Beale Library (1900), Faustino M. Noriega residence (1900), Berges Block (1901), Bakersfield Oil and Stock Exchange (1901), St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (1902), Ardizzi-Olcese Building (1902), Bakersfield Fire Department (1905), Bakersfield Opera House (1906), and Elks Lodge (1909). 

Please go HERE to see a more complete list of the buildings designed by the McDougalls.

Kern Valley Bank Robbery

On the evening of February 18, 1876, the Kern Valley Bank in Bakersfield was robbed of over $27,000 (approximately $600,000 in 2014 money). According to his accounts, S. J. Lansing, the bank’s secretary and cashier, had just finished a meeting with Mr. C. Brower and was preparing to go to bed in his quarters at the rear of the bank when there was a knock at the back door. Thinking Mr. Brower had forgotten something, Lansing opened the door, and two men entered. On hit Lansing on the forehead, over the left eye, and knocked him unconscious. Lansing lay unconscious on the floor while the men broke into the safe and stole about $27,206.95 in coin and gold notes. They left the silver coin untouched. At about 3am the next morning, Lansing awoke and managed to crawl to his bed. At 6am, Mr. H. C. Parke, the Wells, Fargo & Co agent who had an office at the bank, found Lansing shivering in bed.

Four detectives from San Francisco were immediately brought in. The detectives interviewed the bank trustees and those residing near the bank. They also examined the office of Br. Brower and the houses of H. A. Jastro (a friend of Lansing’s), Judge Colby (who lived next door to the bank), and Solomon Jewett (president of the bank). No clues were gathered from the interviews or searches. On the following weekend, two men left town for San Luis Obispo and, after a warrant was issued for their arrest, were brought back to Bakersfield for questioning. They were released when nothing could be found tying them to the robbery.

A week after the robbery, the detectives were about to give up and return to San Francisco but decided to talk to Lansing again. Along with a friend of Lansing’s, the detectives interviewed Lansing in his quarters at the rear of the bank, and Lansing cracked under the pressure. He admitted to stealing the money and hitting himself in the head. Lansing had hidden the coin in the wall of his room. He instructed the detectives to peel back a piece of wallpaper above his bureau and reach into a hole in the wall to find a nail with a piece of string attached. At the end of the string were four bags containing the coin. He then instructed them where to find the notes hidden in an old trunk in the shed outside.

Lansing was promptly arrested, but was later released when several of his friends - many of whom were associated with the bank - provided the $5,000 bail. When his case came up for trial in May, Lansing was no where to be found. Several of his bondsmen went to San Francisco to try to locate him and learned that he had left the state. It wasn’t until February 1878 that Bakersfield again heard word of Lansing but, by that time, Lansing was dead. In the fall of 1876, Lansing fled to Shanghai, China where he changed his name and died on February 9, 1877.

Dogs in Early Bakersfield

Bakersfield’s population almost doubled between 1890 and 1900 after the value of the area’s oil was realized. As the human population grew, so did the pet population. Faced with an overabundance of stray dogs, Bakersfield began requiring its citizens to pay $2.00 ($50.00 in today’s money) to license their animals; unlicensed dogs were impounded at the city pound, which had primarily been used to house stray horses and cows.

Fortunately for history, three of the early dog license books were donated to the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. These books provide a wealth of information about dogs and their owners at the turn of the 20th century. The license books, which date from 1898, 1900, and 1901, record the owner, breed or description, and name of approximately 340 dogs. From saloon owners to bank tellers to madams to doctors and everyone in between – it seems that everyone in Bakersfield had a dog.

The books show that early residents were just as creative in the past as they are today in naming their animals. Contrary to what may be supposed, Fido and Spot were not popular names. In fact, the most prevalent name in the books is Prince, and it was bestowed on spaniels, setters, pugs, a poodle, and a bulldog. Naming a pet gives an owner an opportunity to illustrate his or her creativity, sense of humor, sophistication, and insight. On a more utilitarian level, names can signify the type of relationship between the animal and the owner. For example, while bank teller Charles Bickerdike may have taken his bird dog, Sport, with him while hunting, shoe-store owner Martin Gundlach’s pug, Mae, probably existed simply for the pleasure of her owner.

Interestingly, many of the names have a literary connection, indicating that early Bakersfield residents were well-read. Although not readily familiar to us today, Jip was one of the most popular names for dogs at this time; Jip became a trendy dog’s name after Charles Dickens featured a spoiled dog by that name in his novel David Copperfield Other literary dogs include Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Jim (Huckleberry Finn), Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe), and James Whitcomb Riley (author of the poem “Little Orphant Annie”).

Most dogs live and die in relative obscurity, but because these dogs were licensed and records were donated to a museum, these much-loved dogs will be remembered for years to come.

Interesting and needing further research: most of the dogs in the books are male. Were early residents trying to control the dog population by killing most female pups?

Top Ten Dog Names in Turn-of-the-Century Bakersfield:

• Prince
• Jim
• Brownie
• Dick
• Sport
• Shep
• Bob
• Jack
• Jip
• Duke

A Tour of Bakersfield's Bungalow Courts

EDITED 9/2/2014 with new information.

Bungalow courts started being built just prior to World War I, and from 1910 to 1930, they were the dominant multi-family dwelling type in Southern California. Pasadena holds the distinction of having the first bungalow court. It was designed in 1909 by Sylvanus Marston who placed eleven full-sized bungalow houses in a courtyard arrangement. The earliest bungalow court that I could find in Bakersfield is the court at 926 Lake Street in East Bakersfield. It was built in 1910 by Contractor Young of Santa Barbara for Mathias Warren (Earl Warren's father) as rental units. As the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Bakersfield shows, the court originally had six units with a walkway leading off of Lake Street. Four units survive.

A typical bungalow court consists of six to ten small, individual houses placed around a communal green space. Each house usually consists of only one bedroom. Most bungalow courts are kept to two standard city lots, and parking is usually limited and is often at the rear of the units, in the alleyway, or on the street.  906 Kentucky Street, with its three bungalows on either side of a central lawn, is an example of a typical bungalow court arrangement. Bungalow courts can also be found in other, less common arrangements. Paynter Court (1717 Palm Street) is an example of a U–shaped court, which is characterized by a duplex or, in this case, a small apartment house at the back. Individual cottages or even a series of duplexes or triplexes arranged around a long, narrow, garden-like walkway can also be considered a bungalow court.  St. Elmo Court is an example of an attached, narrow court in which a common walkway and yard is shared by four, attached, residences.

What separates a bungalow court from other detached multiple housing units that were built later has to do with aesthetic. From distinctive tilework (St. Elmo Court) to Spanish tile roofs (2001 Blanche Street) to bay windows (El Maiz Court, 101 Eye Street) to exposed beams (Ye Olde English Village Court Apartments, 1823 Myrtle Street), bungalow courts have a quaintness and approachability missing from more tenement-like apartment complexes.

Bungalow courts were built throughout Bakersfield. Many are tucked into residential neighborhoods that were being developed on former farmland. For example, the bungalow courts near 23rd and D streets (Finlayson, Spreyer, and Swanson courts) were built on former Kern County Land Company land. When they were built in the late 1930s, the land was at the northern edge of town.  Bungalow courts were also built on land that was being subdivided from larger properties; 1717 Baker was built next to dentist’s G. L. Brown’s house on land that had been part of Dr. Brown’s orchard.

During the bungalow court’s heyday, American society was drastically changing as large numbers of young people sought opportunities away from their families. This included young men returning from the military as well as young women entering the workforce. Traditional housing types - mainly single family homes, boarding houses, and city apartments - did not meet the new demand. Courtyard housing provided a sense of community as well as independence.

Media endorsed bungalow court living for young women. In 1913, an article in Ladies' Home Journal concluded that “very few persons, particularly women, can be happy outside of a pleasant home. An apartment in a great boxlike building is frequently the solution, as a house to one's self is apt to be not only lonely, but expensive as well. In California, the court apartment has solved the problem in a practical and economical way.” Women may have been the primary residents of bungalow courts in Southern California, but this does not seem to have been the case in Bakersfield. Only about 20% of the heads of households living in a bungalow court apartment as listed in the 1930 Bakersfield City Directory were women. Considering that Bakersfield’s main industries were oil and agriculture – both male-dominated fields – it seems reasonable that most of the bungalow court residents were male. Many young couples also lived in the units, but pets and children were not allowed.

After World War II, bungalow courts fell out of favor as emphasis was placed on building single-family homes in newly developing suburbs. The 1960s saw the development of large-scale apartment buildings that allowed for much higher housing density. While groupings of one-story units continued to be built in Bakersfield, these groupings lack the personality, beauty, and approachability that was prevalent in the earlier courts.

A few of Bakersfield’s Bungalow Courts:

• 926 Lake Street
  Built: 1910
  (picture coming soon)
• St. Elmo Court
  1800 Forrest Street
  Built: circa 1919
  

• Imperial Court
  1302 M Street
  Built: 1923
• Alta Vista Court
  110 Kentucky Street
  Built: 1925
• Los Olivas Court
  1022 Truxtun Avenue
  Built: 1926
  “TO SUB-LET until September 1 bungalow, in bungalow court. Electric fan, Victrola and records, silver and linen and telephone. Front rooms and bath. Call 2880-R, or come to 1022 Truxtun avenue.” The Bakersfield Californian, 6/14/1927
• 2016-2030 C Street
  Built: 1928
  

• 311 East 19^th Street
  Built: 1928
  

• De Luxe Court
  509 B Street
  Built: 1929
• 1717 Baker Street
  Built: 1929
  “Seven-unit bungalow court to cost $20,000. Handsome Improvement to Be Constructed on Baker Street 1700 Block.”The Bakersfield Californian, 4/6/1929
  

• 906 Kentucky
  Built: 1929
  

• Ye Olde English Village Court Apartments
  1823 Myrtle Street
  Built: 1929
  Architects: Ernest J. Kump Jr. and Ernest J. Kump Sr.
  

• 1906 Forrest Street
  Built: circa 1930
  

• Paynter Court
  1717 Palm Street
  Built: 1931
  

• Finlayson Court
  2100 23^rd Street
  Built: 1937
  “REAL ESTATE NEWS BRIEFS Finlayson Court Foundations have been laid and workmen are busy with the upper structure of the new six-unit Monterey court to be erected at the corner of Twenty-third and D streets by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Finlayson.” The Bakersfield Californian, 1/23/1937
  

• Spreyer Court (also called Dolores Court)
  2210 D Street
  Built: 1937
  

• Swanson Court (also called El Encanto Court)
  2300 D Street
  Built: 1937
  

• 520 H Street
  Built: circa 1937
  

• Westwind Court
  705 K Street
  Built: 1937
• 1714 Quincy
  Built: circa 1938
• 2001 Blanche Street
  Built: 1938
  “FOR RENT - New modern bungalow courts, near high school, completely furnished $50, partly furnished $42.50. Inquire 2001 Blanche street or call 3034-J in afternoon.” The Bakersfield Californian, 2/24/1938
  

• Tapia Village
  1819 Niles Street and 1802 Monterey
  Built: 1938
  Original Owner: F. M. Franklin
  

• El Maiz Court
  101 Eye Street
  Built: 1940
  Builder J. M. Corn chose the Spanish translation of his surname when naming his bungalow court.
  

Here's your Google Tour: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zqKtY-GP1nU4.kCVNcqkHW8Xk

1910 Bakersfield City Directory

I've transcribed the 1910 Bakersfield City Directory! Please click on the link to take you to the directory - 1910 Bakersfield City Directory.

Disclaimer - There may be some mistakes. I suggest double checking the source. The Beale Library has the city directory as does the Kern County Museum.