BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — From the outside, the historic Fairfax Grange looks much like it did when it was first opened in 1943, but inside the building is seeing a revitalization while still honoring its legacy.
- When farmers settled in Kern County in the 1930s, agriculture was still a growing industry in California. So dust bowl immigrants needed a place to gather.
- So they turned to granges, a national movement rooted in Minnesota in 1867 by the Patrons of Husbandry. For over a century the grange played a pivotal role in national agriculture and rural policy throughout America.
From the outside, the historic Fairfax Grange looks much like it did when it was first opened in 1943, but inside the building is seeing a revitalization while still honoring its legacy.
“So this a roster from 1963 of all the rosters in California, and we can see there were 6 granges,” said John Harrer, Master of the Fairfax Grange. “We are the last remaining grange in Kern County.”
For over a hundred years, granges have been synonymous with rural America. When farmers settled in Kern County in the 1930s, agriculture was still a growing industry in California. So dust bowl immigrants needed a place to gather.
“The importance of the grange, it’s not just the building. It’s a part of the community,” Harrer said. “The farmers were really independent souls and they needed to group together during times of hardships, they wanted to ban together.”
So they turned to granges, a national movement rooted in Minnesota in 1867 by the Patrons of Husbandry. For over a century the grange played a pivotal role in national agriculture and rural policy throughout America.
“They used this as a community center, for the agriculture, and for lobbying the government for water rights and things like that,” Harrer said.
So in 1934, a group of local farmers chartered the first grange in Kern County — the Fairfax Grange 570 — built out of knotty pine, maple wood, and no electricity.
“I think they though it would be a fad,” Harrer said.
The Fairfax Grange was not only a place to gather for farmers to gather but a beacon calling out to those across the state, looking to boost our local economy.
“This was Bakersfield, and we were trying to get people to come to Bakersfield for convention and this was put together by the Chamber of Commerce in 1937,” Harrer said, pointing to a request from the Kern County Chamber of Commerce to the State Grange to hold their annual convention in Bakersfield.
While attempts to bring the State Grange Convention to Kern County in 1937 were unsuccessful, they weren’t in vain. Only 28 years later the 93rd Annual Convention would be held right in Bakersfield.
Chester Deaver, the overseer of the event, would say in his report, “It is fitting that this great Farm Organization, which has served it’s purpose for so many years, should convene its Ninety-Third annual session in the lovely City of Bakersfield, surrounded by one of the great agricultural producing areas of this state.”
While over the decades several local granges have closed down, the Fairfax Grange continues to overcome adversary much like the farmers who originally built it.
“I have a feeling that they came from the dust bowl, and the farmers that came from the dust bowl really had a hard time and they understood the importance of banding together,” Harrer said.
Though over the years it’s made some change, mainly transitioning to more of an event venue and dance hall. In the 80s and 90s the hall was filled with parties and line dancing, and even the late great Red Simpson enjoyed a small stint performing on the stage.
Harrer said they were doing well with restorations up until the pandemic and just when they were recovering from that, a storm hit.
“Unfortunately the storm in 2022, caused the roof to leak and we almost lost our floor,” he said. “We were really worried about our floor.”
They’ve slowly continued revitalization, though, hoping soon to tackle the exterior of the building. The funding to do this? Well it’s all coming from regular social dances with a cover charge of $5 and a few local concerts.
While it’s transitioned away from a place for farmers to ban together, Harrer said he hopes they never truly lose their agricultural roots.
The Fairfax Grange is will have two events coming up in September, Line Dance Fest on the 14 and the Soda Srackers on the 28.
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