Court House/Jail

havilahcourthouse: Havilah Courthouse/Jail On April 2, 1866, the California State Legislature created the County of Kern, and ordered that an election be held on July 12, 1866, to elect county officers. The newly elected Kern County Board of Supervisors held their first meeting August 1, 1866. Part of their business that first meeting was to call for bids to build a jail in the mining town of Havilah, at that time the county seat.

The order for the building called for it to be "...constructed of one foot square timbers, the partitions to be of wood six inches thick, and the doors to be constructed of half inch iron to be made as a grating." At a cost of $1,600, the building was completed on October 11, 1866. Within two days, it had its first occupant, other than the sheriff and the tax collector. The courthouse was actually constructed at a separate site, and was completed in August of 1867 at a cost of $2,200.

HISTORY:
This building, a representation of an old court house and jail, was constructed from 1953 to 1954 on the grounds of the museum from salvaged pieces of the court house from the mining town of Claraville. Claraville is located near Piute Mountain approximately 50 miles northeast of Bakersfield.


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