Tehachapi, California

Tehachapi is a city incorporated in 1909 located in its namesake Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and Mojave in Kern County, California. The area is known for its world famous Tehachapi Loop and for its electricity generating Wind turbines. A California state prison has long been located in the area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 10,957.

Area history

Tehachapi was preceded by a settlement a few miles west of it called Williamsburg or "Tehichipa" which was in existence in the 1870's. After the Southern Pacific (SP) railroad (now merged into the Union Pacific) established its line through the mountains in 1876 Williamsburg saw its business taken away by the SP's newer location, eventually called Tehachapi Summit. Later its name was shortened to simply Tehachapi. The original SP railroad depot, still standing, helped start the beginning of the downtown core. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest building built in downtown Tehachapi.

Related Topics:
Southern Pacific - Union Pacific - 1876 - National Register of Historic Places

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The lime-rich Monolith cement works northeast of the city, still in operation, helped build such engineering works as the 1913 Los Angeles Aqueduct - its first project - as well as supplying cement for constructing the massive Hoover Dam dedicated to use in 1936.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles Aqueduct - Hoover Dam

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The Dust Bowl migrants - known regionally here as Okies and made famous by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath came through the area on their way to the southern San Joaquin Valley, especially in and around Bakersfield, at the time of the 1930's Great Depression.

Related Topics:
Dust Bowl - Okie - John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath - San Joaquin Valley - Great Depression

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Tehachapi was near the epicenter of a magnitude 7.5 (Richter scale) earthquake on the little known White Wolf fault on July 21, 1952. Unreinforced brick buildings resulted in major building destruction at that time, but have now long since been outlawed in California building codes.

Related Topics:
Earthquake - July 21 - 1952

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The origin of the city's name is in dispute. Possibilities include Native American words expressing:

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• sweetwater and acorns (from the area's many oak trees)
• windy place