Oil is a big part of Kern County and the Black Gold Exhibit is the star of the museum. Nicely done throught donations of time and materials from the local oil industry. The old wooden drilling rig shows how far we've come. The artifacts laying all over inside and out tell the evolution of the industry. You can spend half a day here easily. All the old buildings on the property tell a story as well. The whole place is for rent for events. Lots of neat places to explore. Go and enjoy!!!

My daughter and I had a great time seeing the historic homes/businesses and oil industry exhibition displayed at the Kern County Museum. I thought the way it was set up, where you view the exterior of structures while peaking inside through window viewing areas, was very clever. During the current pandemic times, it is a great place to visit, since all activities are outdoors.

We only had time to visit the Museum’s Pioneer Village on the day of our visit. The historic buildings (exterior/interior) were displayed with care in a peaceful village setting . Information on the history of each building was displayed in front of each building, and made the visit even more enjoyable. There are also other areas to visit within the Museum for the whole family to enjoy. We will be back to visit again in the future! The Kern County Museum is definitely worth a visit!

Amazing museum and worth a visit cost $10. It takes you back to the 1800s and 1900s era, how people lived in terms of their migration to Bakerfield, their homes, their clothes, their tools, their furniture, their jobs, and their means of transportation. The museum is outdoor and built in the shape of a replicants neighborhood. Walking around the museum, you feel as if you are living in that era. It takes two hours or more to complete it.

This is a great venue but shows signs of insufficient maintenance and poor artifact curation. Many active displays were "out of order" and some things had no explanations at all. Tires on the old cars going flat.

I'm surprised how many people never go to the Kern County Museum...unless Brews or some other event is taking place there. It's a terrific place to take your cranky kids during their school breaks. The Pioneer Village historic homes are fun to go through, and the Lori Brock children's museum always has fun things going on for the kids. I believe they even have summer day camps. My absolute favorite time of the year is Christmas when they do the Lamplight tours and the Christmas tree exhibition in the hall. I always look forward to this event to start off my holiday season. There's also a safe Halloween event that has really grown over the past few years. It's almost a do-not-miss event in Bakersfield. Overall, there's always something going on here. Just check out their website http://www.kcmuseum.org/ Oh, and the museum store has some great gift ideas like local cookbooks.

The Kern County Museum doesn't sound great from the outside, but it is actually quite interesting. The homes and buildings are well kept, and the Black Gold Experience offers an excellent history of California Oil.

Basically this is a VERY interesting museum. It consists of a group of buildings, somewhat unspoiled - including historical homes, a log cabin, an Elk Lodge, old movie theater (showing "Black Gold," illustrating how Kern County made billions of barrels of oil and still does), general store, dentist, hospital, doctor's office, a hotel, barber's shop, train cars, oil derrick, courthouse, jails, an adobe, old gas station and so many buildings that I cannot even list. The buildings are all authentic and carefully brought to this location (from other areas where these buildings existed) to recreate a "town like" feel and you really feel like you are back in time. Yes, you can see the inside of them and they are just as they would have been when they were operational. The historic "green" house photographed in this review near the entrance needs an "appointment" as it does not have Plexiglas as you walk through it. I would have liked to have seen it and was told if you contact the museum ahead of time you can actually get in! I truly enjoyed walking around this "ghost town." It was part museum (world class) and part town! The coolest part is that it was almost completely empty as no children from the county attend field trips there (sadly) and not many tourists in Bakersfield. I am so glad my friend took me here. All in all, I saw MANY highlights Bakersfield had to offer but this was by far the best one. Enjoy, because I sure did!

You'll balk at the admission price ($10- initially seems pretty steep), but OMG, it was so worth it. If you like early American history, are an architectural snob (i.e., the sight of old Victorian mansions makes you swoon), you will think you've died and gone to the good place. Here are some of the good and not-so-good points: PROS: Really extensive collections of early American memorabilia, neat interactive exhibits, wide variety of businesses are represented (you're not just looking at old houses, there's an adobe, a church, a dentist's office, a school house, etc.). If you fill out a little survey at the end of your visit, you get to pick a neat little gift from a variety of different things, which was totally fun! The Black Gold exhibit was very thorough and was in a THANKFULLY air-conditioned building. CONS: It's not their fault, but Bakersfield is so hot it will crush your soul. There's not much in the way of tree cover, so shade is scarce and wind even more so. If you go in the summer, be prepared to SWEAT A LOT! There were tons of bugs, spiderwebs, and flies both inside and outside of the structures. They really need to get some volunteers to wipe away the cobwebs and see to the water damage before it becomes irreparable. All in all, I was completely surprised at how much my daughter and I enjoyed our visit. This is the first time we have ever spent two hours at any kind of "historical or cultural site." YES, it's really amazing!

The exhibits in the entry building are fine, but it's the eclectic collection outside that makes the museum. Most aspects of pioneer life in Kern county are shown, with an extra emphasis on the petroleum industry, both past and present. Toward the right rear of the outdoor area there is a building devoted to drilling for oil, which is apparently not always open, depending on volunteer availability, and may in fact be open even when the cashier thinks it isn't, which was the case for us: we got lucky. There is not the slick presentation of a big-city museum: This looks very much like the work of a lot of dedicated volunteers, whom I thank. I would not go to Bakersfield just for this, but if you're there, and have the time, I think everyone in your party will find something of interest. After visiting I learned it's in the North American Reciprocal list, but I don't begrudge paying: they can probably use the money.