Manhole Covers of Eastern Kern County, California

Created 3 June 2006

This page was last updated on 28 October 2006

This is a study of manhole covers from various cities in eastern Kern County, California, which is just beginning. Eastern Kern County occupies the northwestern portion of the Mojave Desert, and the Tehachapi Mountains and southern end of the Sierra Nevada. Right now, this page just includes some manhole covers from Inyokern, Mojave, and Ridgecrest, three desert towns. Others will follow, so revisit this page periodically.

All photos copyrighted by David L. Magney 2006

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Manhole Covers of Eastern Kern County, California

Manhole Covers of Inyokern, California

Inyokern is a small desert (unincorporated) town on State Route 395, a few miles east of State Route 14 in northeastern corner of Kern County, in the Indian Wells Valley. Mining was the primary industry supporting Inyokern, now home for families of Navy personel stationed at China Lake Naval Air Station (NAS). Inyokern has railroad tracks (Southern Pacific Railroad - no longer in use) passing through to the Owens Valley. Inyokern is named in the recognition that it occurs near the Kern/Inyo County line, which occurs a few miles to the north. Inyokern was established in 1909. Inyokern has a population of 984 at the time of the 2000 census, in 418 households with 270 families. It is almost entirely populated by whites, with Native American and Hispanic residents consisting almost 5% and 6.5% of the population, respectively. The median household income is $35,046. The per capita income for the Inyokern census tract was $21,707. It has the oldest (mostly) continuously used drag strip, and is served by the Inyokern Airport, which was first a military base established during World War II. More details about Inyokern can be found at Inyokern Info.

Manhole Covers of Mojave, California

Mojave is a small desert (unicorporated) town on State Route 14 and SR 58, in southeastern Kern County, at an elevation of 2,747 feet above sea level. Mojave occupies 58.4 square miles. Mining was the primary industry supporting Mojave, now home for families of Air Force personel stationed at Edwards Air Force Base to the southeast. Mojave has a major railroad yard on the west side of town, including Burlington Northern-Santa Fe. Mojave has a population of 3,836 in the 2000 census in 1,408 households of 940 families. The median family income in Mojave is $28,496 with per capita income at $12,477, a pretty poor town. Mojave is located in the northwestern Mojave Desert. The Mojave Airport, just outside the town, is the boneyard for commerical airplanes. Hundreds of passanger airplanes, including Boeing 747s, are retired here. One client of mine bought one of them (a 747) in 2005 to use as parts (wings, nose cone, tail) for her new home in the Ventura County portion of the Santa Monica Mountains. Mojave served as the western terminis for the 20-mule borax teams, bringing surface-mined borax from Death Valley, and Searless Dry Lake. The first 20-mule team wagon was built in Mojave.

The two covers below are at the Shell gas station, one providing access to a tank cleanout, the smaller one to a filling nossle for the underground fuel tanks.

Manhole Covers of Ridgecrest, California

Ridgecrest is a Navy town, even though it has no sea port, in northeastern Kern County located on State Route 178. Ridgecrest would likely not exist as a city without China Lake NAS, and only came into existence after China Lake NAS was established in 1943. It is a sprawling city on a grid pattern at the southwest corner of China Lake NAS. Ridgecrest has a population of about 25,635, 16% of which claim German ancestry. Ridgecrest used to be called Crumville. The per capita income in Ridgecrest is $21,312, just a tad below the national average.

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