The Bakersfield Guy's Newsletter! Issue #16

A local wrestling promotion from Bakersfield?! Kern City and Bakersfield in the 1890s. Plus your usual event list that drives me crazy to curate weekly. We're so back.

Local Business Spotlight.

Rodeo Pro Wrestling.

All photos brought to you by EC Shots

A few days ago I was browsing instagram, checking for news and posts relative to Bakersfield. I ran into a wrestling promotion that was having an event here in Bakersfield. Rodeo Pro Wrestling. A few months ago I saw they had an event here as well. I thought to myself, “So cool for a wrestling company to be making multiple stops a year in Bakersfield.”

I ended up scrolling onto their IG page, and come to find out they don’t make stops in Bakersfield because they’re a wrestling promotion based out of Bakersfield!!!

When I saw this I could not believe that Bakersfield has a homegrown wrestling promotion! I was so excited I had to get in contact with them. I told them I was so excited to find out about them and where I could find more so I could spread the word. They responded directly and this is what I found out.

The company was started by 4 Bakersfield locals who are pro wrestlers. They came together to buy a ring because for them to get proper training in ring they had to travel to Los Angeles! They had their first show in May, and were incredibly surprised by the turnout.

“It was surreal to see the people in our city so excited for pro wrestling. October 25 will be our third show, and our mission statement is to provide family-friendly entertainment at an affordable price. There are a lot of great up-and-coming wrestlers on the California scene, and we want to make Bakersfield a cornerstone of that movement.”
Rodeo Pro Wrestling

So everyone please let’s go show our local pro wrestling company a lot of love! Follow their instagram here. Tell wrestling fans and even just Bakersfield locals of what and who Rodeo Pro Wrestling is. Imagine if they got to the point where they could have monthly scheduled shows because of all the support they got right here? It would add another great event created by locals for locals! Let’s help them sell out their tickets for October 25th, and have a blast at their next show! Click here to get your tickets! 

This event will feature a free Trunk or Treat event! Take your kids.

pictures from their 1st event

Again, photo credits EC Shots

Remembering the past. Bakersfield History.

Bakersfield’s Public Transit That Was
Part. I

A picture take from the Chester Clocktower roughly 1925.

Above you see another great picture from the turn of the century. What do you notice? The antique cars of the time? The incredible architecture of historic Bakersfield? Maybe the people walking? Look a little closer, and you might spot something easy to miss; The tracks from the electric trolley that once ran right through the heart of the city.

Let’s take a look back even before the 20th century. Have you ever wondered how people got around? This is going to give horse power a vintage meaning.

Imagine being a Bakersfield local in the year 1900. There’s about 5 thousand total locals so the city is a fraction of what it is today. The streets are not paved or smooth, some areas are muddy. You need to go from your work of downtown to old town kern. You get in line for the public transit of the time, you get in a street car, and this streetcar is being pulled by a horse.

You read that right, a streetcar being pulled by the horse was a revolutionary public transit system in the 19th century.

You can see the horse drawn streetcars vaguely

Talk about 2 horse power

The horse-powered transit system of the late 19th century was Bakersfield’s first form of public transportation. At the time, Bakersfield and Old Town Kern were two separate towns.

Fun fact: Old Town Kern was originally known as Sumner from about 1870 to 1890, and later as Kern City through the early 1900s. This means that Bakersfield’s first public transit line connected the two towns of Kern City and Bakersfield.

In many ways, this small horse-powered streetcar line was a miniature version of the Pacific Railroad that ran through Old Town Kern and connected the region to the rest of America. For locals, it meant you could hop on one side of Bakersfield and ride all the way to Sumner/Kern City. It wasn’t the smoothest trip, the dirt roads were rough, the weather unpredictable, but for just twenty-five cents it was a game-changing ride.

This was only the start of the public transit system. The horse-powered streetcar began operating in 1888, and by 1901 it was obsolete. That means that in about 13 years the next step in public transportation had arrived.

Make sure to check out next week’s newsletter to get a look into electric powered transportation on Part II of this mini series.

GUYS! Please double check any event info before fulling committing. Usually it’s pretty accurate overall, but I noticed I had some details off. I spent a lot of time fixing things, but I would hate to mislead you guys direction and time wise. Just double check any events yourself through the links I provide or look them up yourself. Thanks for the understanding! I think I fixed most of the errors but you never know if something slipped by.

🎟️ Events This Week: October 16th-22nd

More events for this week. October has been action packed!

💡 Click the underlined event name for tickets or more info.

Thursday, October 16

Friday, October 17

Saturday, October 18

Sunday, October 19

Monday, October 20

Tuesday, October 21

Wednesday, October 22

That’s it for this week.

Thanks guys. I had so much fun on this issue with the public transit and Rodeo Pro Wrestling segments, but the events section is becoming an absolute nightmare LMAO The process of finding 40-50 events, double checking for accuracy then linking all pages is taking up so much time. I love you guys though, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

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📩 Got an event, business, or rumor I should feature? Hit reply or email me at [email protected].

The Bakersfield Guy