Does anyone know who founded Bakersfield?

Question

I am doing some research for someone and they need to know who founded Bakersfield. She thinks it's one of her relatives.

Answer 1

In 1863, former Iowa militia member and former California state senator Colonel Thomas Baker moved into the Kern Island area to champion the cause of land reclamation. He settled into a tule-reed thatched log cabin near present-day Truxtun Avenue and R Street. Baker, who had experience as a surveyor and was reputed to be one of the few government officials not corrupted by big business, was recommended to survey and lay out the town of Visalia in the late 1850s. He was also known for his hospitality.[citation needed]

Baker grew a field of alfalfa, near the modern Amtrak station, for travelers to feed their horses. Newspapers as far away as San Francisco advised travelers to visit Baker's field and use his field of alfalfa to feed their stock.

As more families moved to the area, Baker subsidized development out of his own pocket. He constructed public sawmills, helped other pioneers drain their land, and surveyed the land. Baker was asked to plot out a new town after a flood of the Kern River rerouted the river channel to the north. At the founding ceremony in 1869, residents surprised Baker by naming the town Bakersfield, in his honor.

Baker died of typhoid fever in 1872, and is buried at Union Cemetery.

Answer 2

Colonel Thomas Baker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield#Founding

Answer 3

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