The Bakersfield Californian history

The task was given to Colonel Thomas Baker and by 1869 he successfully had a layout for the growing town completed.

As the mineral wealth of the area became depleted and the population moved southward toward Bakersfield, the newspaper also moved to Bakersfield in 1872, becoming The Kern County Weekly Courier.

In 1876, the Courier merged with another Bakersfield newspaper, The Southern Californian, to form The Kern County Californian.

In 1897, the Kern County superintendent of schools, Alfred Harrell, purchased the newspaper.

The discovery of the Kern River oil fields in 1899 brought a large-scale petroleum industry, which was centred at Bakersfield.

Harrell gave The Bakersfield Californian its present name in 1907.

In 1926, he moved the newspaper to 1707 Eye St in downtown Bakersfield.

Toward the end of the 1950’s, Colombo and Lencioni began winning bids on school facility projects and the company quickly progressed in the number, size and difficultly of projects under construction at one time.

She held that position until her death in 1954, when the Harrells' daughter, Bernice Harrell Chipman, assumed the position of president.

California State University was formed in 1960 by the Donahoe Higher Education Act, which unified existing state colleges under a central administrative structure.

In 1969, Harrell became the 24th person to be named to the Newspaper Hall of Fame.

The city is home to the California State University-Bakersfield, built in 1970, and a junior college that provides a fine education.

Tom had started with Colombo as an apprentice carpenter back in 1979.

Under her leadership, the company constructed a $21 million publishing facility in 1984.

In January 1989, Virginia F. Moorhouse, daughter of Berenice Koerber, was elected chairman and president of The Bakersfield Californian.

The newest addition is the Channel Islands campus, which opened for classes as a separate institution in 2002 after having been part of the Northridge campus.

17, 2009, the weekday editions of The Californian switched to a tabloid format.

In December 2014, Virginia "Ginny" Cowenhoven, daughter of Virginia F. "Ginger" Moorhouse, was named associate publisher, the fifth generation of the Harrell-Fritts family to serve in a leadership position at the media company.

Since 2018, Ryan has proven to be a calm, intelligent leader of Colombo.