Bakersfield, CA is located in the San Joaquin Valley which was first settled by the Yokuts tribe of Native Americans. Senator Thomas Baker, who was interested in the cause of land reclamation, settled in a place called Kern Island in 1863. The name Bakersfield was given in 1869 and originates from Senator Baker's growing of a field of alfafa which could be used to feed traveler's horses.

Baker subsidized the development of Bakersfield and by 1880, there were 801 residents. By 1900 the population was just under 5,000. This rather demonstrates the attraction of the settlement to people far and wide. Major fires in 1889 and 1919 and floods in 1867 and 1893 did nothing to stop the inexorable advancement of Bakersfield, CA.

Another boost to the local culture came in 1898 when the San Joaquin and San Francisco railroad arrived, linking the town to its Western US neighbours.

A large influx of economic migrants came during the 1930s, when dust storms and drought forced many Arkansans and Oklahmomans off their land.

A savage earthquake struck the city at 4.52 am on July 21, 1952. The nearby communities of Arvin and Tehachapi were completely destroyed. Cotton fields were bent into U shapes and an area of the Tehachapi Mountains fell across all the lanes of the Ridge Route, such was the power of the quake. Aftershocks continued for a month until another earthquake struck the most densely populated area of Bakersfield, killing a few people and obliterating some of the city's historic buildings.

Today there are more than 250,000 people resident in Bakersfield.