California, Kern County, Mojave
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In dedication to the pilots, air crews and personnel of Mojave, who trained, served and gave their lives in the service of this country, especially to those who valiantly fought for freedom in the great battles of World War II and Korea.
Semper Fidelis
Presented by East Kern Airport District
Mojave Chamber of Commerce
30 May 1996
(War, Korean • War, World II) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
In dedication to the pilots, air crews and personnel of Mojave, who trained, served and gave their lives in the service of this country, especially to those who valiantly fought for freedom in the great battles of World War II and Korea.
Semper Fidelis
Presented by East Kern Airport District
Mojave Chamber of Commerce
30 May 1996
(War, Korean • War, World II) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The Mojave Airport was created in 1935 as part of the Kern County Airport System. The fledgling airport was built to serve gold mines near Mojave. At the outset of World War Two, the airport became a Marine Corps Air Station that trained Marine Aviators in gunnery, producing the most productive aerial gunners in the Pacific War.
Far better it is to dare mighty thinkigs...even through checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
Chief Designer: Bevin McKinney
In 1871 Horatio P. Livermore and William Muehe built the Kern River Flour Mills on the Kern Island Canal. Muehe sold his interest to Fordyce Roper in 1874 and Livermore to James B. Haggin in 1879, who also acquired Roper's interest in 1884. The business became a corporate holding of the Kern County Land Company in 1890, flour production continued until 1923, and grain was processed and stored until a destructive earthquake in 1952.
On this site Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel's original Flamingo Hotel stood from December 26, 1944 until December 14, 1993.
Due to water and terrain, pioneer trails and wagon roads converged at this point. First inn to accommodate travellers [sic] was opened here by Proctor & Co. in June, 1849. The following year a two-story hotel was built by James D. Taber and John L. Tanner.
Built in 1853 by James W. Kerrick. Having come over the emigrant trail, to Keystone District with nine covered wagons. This place originally housed a restaurant, bar rooms and stables. Located on the main road from San Joaquin and Bay Region into the Southern Mines sector and chief station for freight.
Manufacturing village started in 1827 on site of Isaiah Linton;s 1772 Jericho Lower Gristmill by Dean Walker and members of Shaw and Tiffany families. Town acquired in 1838 by James Mahool. The first cotton mill burned in 1881. Second cotton mill designed by Albert A. Blakeney opened in 1884 and is now the Belko plant. Upton Reed's shovel foundry downstream started in 1808, evolved into Franklinville Ironworks and closed about 1860.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Avery one-room school was established April 4, 1886. School was in session from March to December due to winter snows that kept the highway closed.
The shrine was built for Moccasin Creek pioneer Guiseppe Ferretti by his neighbor Joseph Cavagnaro in 1884. The roadside shrine, believed to be the only one of its kind along Hwy. 49, was reminiscent of the kind found along roadsides in Italy. Travelers would stop to rest and meditate and refresh themselves with the cool spring water that was piped from a nearby spring. A niche was built to hold a statue of St. Joseph, but remained empty over the years.
The Spanish first introduced the arrastra to the New World in the 1500’s. The work “arrastra” come from the Spanish word “arrastre”, meaning to drag along the ground. When ore was quarried out of the hard rock mines, the quartz had to be crushed to free the gold. The arrastra was the earliest and simplest device introduced into the remote areas of the California Gold Fields to do this operation.
This building is the oldest liquor-serving establishment in the state of California. It began life in 1852 as “The Granite Store” built by Peter King. It operated as a general mercantile with, of course, the obligatory “plank over flour barrels’ serving liquor to thirsty miners. In the 1860’s postmaster Jim Tannahill bought the store which also functioned as the town’s post office for almost 25 years. In 1896 Giacomo De Ferrari turned the building into a full fledged saloon. It became named “The Iron Door Saloon” in 1937. Since 1985, it has been owned by Peter and Bettike Barsotti.
