BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield has been around for portions of three centuries now, and 1901 Chester Ave. — which many today still refer to as the Penney’s building — has been a central location throughout that period.
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Starting in the 1870s, it was the home of the French Hotel, one of the finest hotels in the San Joaquin Valley. But it didn’t last long. A huge fire ripped through Bakersfield in 1888 and the French Hotel went with it.
It was replaced by even finer lodging, the Southern Hotel, an elegant inn that competed in terms of architectural grace and refinement with the finest hotels in San Francisco. It too burned down but was rebuilt with even more splendor.
As for today? Ask Mike McCoy, executive director of the Kern County Museum, who, along with wife Susan, is an antiques dealer who these days resides at 1901 Chester. They are among several antiques vendors here.
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“This was the site of the Southern Hotel, the largest hotel in Bakersfield, and it was torn down in 1946, after the war, and JC Penney’s built their new building here,” McCoy said. “Before that, Penney’s was down where the Buena Vista Museum is, and they built that after a fire in ‘29. So this was JC Penney’s up until the 1980s, when they moved to Valley Plaza…