First Baptist Church, Bakersfield
historic place
The First Baptist Church in Bakersfield, Kern County, is designated as a Historic Place. The building was completed between 1931 and 1932. Local architect Charles H. Biggar supervised its construction. The church was designed in the Northern Italian Romanesque architectural style. It is described in the National Register of Historic Places as the finest remaining example of its architectural type in the southern San Joaquin Valley. This structure is notable for surviving the 1952 Kern County earthquake without damage, unlike many other downtown Bakersfield buildings. In 1978, the First Baptist Church congregation moved, and the building was converted to office space, renamed Old Church Plaza. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 1979. A historical marker for the site was erected in 2015 by the Kern County Historical Society. This site represents a significant example of early 20th-century architecture and resilience in Bakersfield's history.