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Building History

The Los Angeles architectural firm of Train and Williams produced the plans for the Kern County Hall of Records in late 1907. An article in the Los Angeles Herald stated: “The plans submitted by Architects Train & Williams to the board of supervisors of Kern county for a hall of records to be built at Bakersfield have been accepted. It will be of reinforced concrete construction and it is estimated to cost $40,000. The plans will be completed not later than October 1, after which bids for the structure will be immediately called for.” (See “Architects Are Active,” Los Angeles Herald, vol. 34, no. 349, 09/15/1907.)

An article in the Hanford Sentinel at about the same time noted that the building would be erected during the winter of 1907-1908: "Down at Bakersfield a new county building to be known as the hall of records and to cost $40,000 is to be erected this winter. It will be a fireproof concrete building, one story high, simple though beautiful in architectural design. Kings county will soon need a hall of records though of course of not such large proportions as the one in Kern county.” (See “More Public Buildings,” Hanford Sentinel, vol. 22, no. 37, 09/19/1907, p. 6.)

Alteration

The building has undergone several renovations over the years, the most drastic in 1939. At that time, the original glazed rotunda was covered to reduce heat on the interior, and the exterior styling was modernized, from Neo-classicism to PWA Moderne. Frank Wynkooop, (1902-1978), was the architect in charge.

In 1988, the building underwent a large-scale renovation, supervised by architect William Tuculet. An annex was built to the west of the original building on the northeast corner of Eye Street and Truxtun Avenue.

PCAD id: 23535