Historical Marker · No. 97
Oak Creek Pass
Tehachapi, Kern County · California
Erected by Bakersfield Parlor No. 42 N.S.G.W., Bakersfield Parlor No. 239 N.D.G.W., the Kern County Historical Society, and the Kern County Chamber of Commerce, 1937
For a hundred years this was the crossing between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave. Garcés came over it in 1776, Frémont in 1844, and from 1864 the stage road out of Havilah climbed it on the way to Los Angeles. Then in 1876 the Southern Pacific put its track through Tehachapi Pass, a thousand feet lower, and the traffic went with the rails. A pass keeps its geography and loses its traffic. This one lost all of it in a single year, and has been a back road since.
What the plaque says
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARK OAK CREEK PASS FATHER FRANCISCO GARCES USED THE OAK CREEK PASS IN 1776 TO RETURN TO THE MOJAVE AFTER EXPLORING THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, AS DID FREMONT IN 1844-45. UNTIL THE BUILDING OF THE RAILROAD THROUGH THE TEHACHAPI PASS IN 1876, OAK CREEK PASS WAS THE ONLY ROUTE USED THROUGH THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS. DEDICATED JUNE 6, 1937 BAKERSFIELD PARLOR NO. 42, N.S.G.W. BAKERSFIELD PARLOR NO. 239, N.D.G.W. KERN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY KERN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES REG. NO. 97 STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Where it stands
35.06112, -118.38867 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Tomo-Kahni — 6.8 mi
- Old Town — 8.3 mi
- Mojave 20-Mule-Team Borax Terminus — 12 mi
- Tehachapi Loop — 12 mi