By Pat Gracey
Not So Long Ago
The Spirit of Tehachapi
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I was just reading Jon Hammond's fine article about local man, Rufus Thomas, showing his realistic miniature reproductions of the once common oil derricks which, at one time, dotted the countryside. At present, the works of art are on display at our local museum. They are a part of the past but not so long ago past that it can still make some of us recall the sea of black oil derricks dotting the landscape in the San Joaquin Valley.
Some years ago when passenger trains used to run through Tehachapi daily, I would find myself riding the San Joaquin Daylight Steamliner to Bakersfield from Tehachapi. Being not yet twenty years old and a single working girl, I was on my way to Bakersfield to buy the ever important "clothes!" The streamliner was an elegant train with lush, upholstered seats, great view from the windows, and even a diner in which one might buy lunch and have it served by waiters in white coats. There was a loudspeaker system which gave us the history of the countryside that was being seen as we passed. The voice would also tell us about the "oil derricks and orange groves dotting the scenery."
Today, when driving to Bakersfield, even though the oil derricks are no longer visible, one can smell the orange blossoms during their blooming times. That bit of history still lingers. The little devices pumping the oil that replaced the derricks remind me of giant birds dipping their heads to drink or eat.
Sometimes in the early 1940s I would visit a friend who lived in Taft and whose father was employed by General Petroleum Company. Their house was on the General Petroleum Lease property. Occasionally their house, painted white, would have black specks on the exterior. They'd say something about another oil well coming in. Kettleman Hills along with Kettleman City were a little farther up on the map near Avenal and Coalinga; probably about seventy miles from Taft. That part of the state was the scene of another huge oil producing area. Black gold, they called it. California is surely the Golden State; gold mines and underground black gold. Rufus Thomas' story was a "keeper" and I have already cut it out and filed it. His artwork is another "keeper" and will be on display at the Museum . It's worth a visit to view those oil derricks and buildings representing a bit of California history.
A local story from a long ago resident of Tehachapi, Gertrude Mathews Phelps, will allow me to get back to the subject of this piece but add a bit of history as well. She, Gertrude, was born in 1904 and lived in Tehachapi with her parents. When I was twelve, in 1940, I used to babysit her little daughter.
One afternoon Gertrude told me that as a child she and her parents lived at 405 South Curry. It's a vintage house, second from the corner of D and Curry Street facing East. Gertrude said her mother would sit looking out of the window at the home on the corner of D Street and Green Street saying, "I'd be happy if I could live in that house."
Mr. Mathews, being a kind husband, traded some property for the lovely home. They lived in it for years. Gertrude Mathews married Earl Phelps and her father built a duplex and single dwelling on the Green Street side of the property. The small house was for the newly weds where Gertrude and Earl lived some time. All structures are still standing. The stone work about the fenced areas of all the properties, was done by Mr. Mathews. I was told that they drove into the mountains and desert searching for rocks for the stone work.
The Mathews lived in the home for years and it was not sold until Gertrude's parents were dead.
Dick Tucker, a local man, purchased it and then Carl and June Sola bought the home. It is still owned by a member of the Sola family.
Nice genealogy of a home, but why? Weren't we talking about oil derricks? The property Mr. Mathews traded for the house was some acreage in Kettleman Hills, the home of that "black gold" called oil. Ya' win some, ya' lose some!
Well, it's still a nice home and a credit to the community.
