Kern Island canal head gate, 2 1/2 miles N.E. of Bakersfield, Kern County, Cal. – Historic Reproduction
![Kern Island canal head gate, 2 1/2 miles N.E. of Bakersfield, Kern County, Cal., [1888] — historic photograph](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/cf/cfa176985e0f-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Kern Island canal head gate, 2 1/2 miles N.E. of Bakersfield, Kern County, Cal., preserved in this historic photograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
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Kern Island canal head gate, 2 1/2 miles N.E. of Bakersfield, Kern County, Cal.
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A head gate on the Kern River, about two and a half miles northeast of Bakersfield, controlled how much water entered the Kern Island canal. In the late 1880s, Kern County was expanding irrigated farming along the river, and diversion works like this one let growers turn a seasonal stream into a steadier supply for fields and orchards. The print belongs to Watkins' new series of California views from the 1880s, and photographs of engineered water systems were prized then as evidence of the state's agricultural growth.
| Created / published | [1888] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Genre | Photographic prints 1880-1890. |
| Notes | W276 Watkins' new series. |
| Subjects | Canals--California--Kern County--1880-1890. Dams--California--Kern County--1880-1890. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,454 × 1,156 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-219397 |
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