Kern County Museum

The Kern County Museum provides interpretive experiences through historical objects to tell significant stories about Kern County life to its visitors. As a result, the museum provides a meaningful learning environment for people of all ages and showcases the unique importance of the region in shaping the history of California and the nation in ways that enrich lives and shape a better future.

The Kern County Museum was founded in 1941 and serves more than 85,000 people each year from its 16-acre site north of downtown Bakersfield.

The museum features:

• Pioneer Village, over 50 historic buildings and exhibits
• Black Gold: The Oil Experience, an award-winning, hands-on oil exhibition
• The Lori Brock Children's Discovery Center, for youth ages eight and under
• The Bakersfield Sound, made possible by the Bakersfield County Music Museum, a non-profit organization solely in existence to promote the Bakersfield Sound

The museum is consistently recognized for providing some of the most outstanding educational programs in the state of California, such as Native American Life, and Living History Day: Frontier Life in Kern County.