Weedpatch near Bakersfield in Kern County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Weedpatch Camp

Sunset Labor Camp

— Dust Bowl Camp —

Weedpatch Camp Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

1. Weedpatch Camp Marker

Inscription.
Historical buildings, Arvin Farm Labor Supply Center, Sunset Government Camp.

From the people of Oklahoma — the Okies — who found a home here and helped build California.
-Gov Frank Keating, 2002.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Arts, Letters, Music • Industry & Commerce • Parks & Recreational Areas. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1935.

Location. 35° 13.392′ N, 118° 54.344′ W. Marker is near Bakersfield, California, in Kern County. It is in Weedpatch. It is on Sunset Boulevard east of Weedpatch Highway, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8701 Sunset Blvd, Bakersfield CA 93307, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally,

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this marker is in California’s San Joaquin Valley,

specifically in the Central Valley,

and in the Sierra Nevada.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Arvin Veterans (approx. 4.2 miles away); Kern River Slough (approx. 4.7 miles away); Francisco Garces O.F.M (approx. 4.9 miles away); Sinks of the Tejon (approx. 9 miles away); Pablo Galtes - Union Cemetery (approx. 10.9 miles away); Captain Elisha Stephens (approx. 11 miles away); Eternal Flame (approx. 11 miles away); Don José Jesús (J. J.) Lopez (approx. 11 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bakersfield.

Another

Photographed by Craig Baker

2. Weedpatch Camp Marker

marker is no longer nearby. Jedediah Smith Trail (was approx. 9.4 miles away but has been confirmed missing).

Regarding Weedpatch Camp. The site is not currently open to the public. In 2026, planning is underway for a new state park.

Also see . . . National Register of Historic Places registration form. Excerpts:

Weedpatch Camp, Kern County, California.
The three buildings that remain from the Weedpatch Camp are the post office, community hall and the library. All three are one-story, utilitarian in design, with few stylistic details. They were built by the W.P.A. in 1935. Today they are in a fenced off area near the main gate of the Sunset Labor Camp in rural Kern County. The remainder of the buildings at the camp are newer, frame buildings built on the old tent pads originally placed there in the 1930s. While the historic buildings have suffered some deterioration, they still maintain the integrity necessary to
Photographed by Craig Baker

3. Weedpatch Camp Marker
convey their significance.

The community hall was the scene of church services and all social activities such as dances, parties, and meetings.

The weedpatch camp is significant for its Depression-era association with the Farm Security Administration’s efforts to improve the plight of migrant farm workers, many of them from the Dust Bowl. The camp is located near Bakersfield, which has become a center of California's "Okie" culture, particularly Country and Western music.

The camp, which offered health care, schooling and laundry facilities in addition to clean, safe housing, was a welcome haven for farm workers and their families. It was one of 28 camps set up in California by the federal Farm Security Administration as an alternative to privately owned camps that were often unsanitary, in disrepair and lacking in facilities.

In 1936 a newspaper reporter named John Steinbeck became interested in the plight of the "Okies."
Photographed by Craig Baker

4. Weedpatch Camp Marker, Library, and Post Office
He stayed in the neighboring community of Weedpatch, California, and began gathering material for his controversial novel, "The Grapes of Wrath." This novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize. Some of the movie was filmed at Weedpatch Camp.

The Weedpatch Camp became the Sunset Labor Camp. In 1958 it was taken over by Kern County. In 1965 it was deeded over to the Kern County Housing Authority.

(Submitted on September 2, 2026.)

Additional keywords. Dust Bowl, John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, Nobel Prize,

Library and Post Office image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

5. Library and Post Office

This was the camp entrance. Modern housing is visible in the background.

Camp Entrance - 1940 image. Click for full size.

Dorothea Lange, courtesy National Archives

6. Camp Entrance - 1940

Community Hall image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

7. Community Hall

Community Hall - 2009 image. Click for full size.

from Wikimedia Commons

8. Community Hall - 2009

Original Sign - 2020 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

9. Original Sign - 2020

The annual reunion event ended in 2019.

Weedpatch Camp - 1936 image. Click for full size.

Dorothea Lange, courtesy Library of Congress

10. Weedpatch Camp - 1936

Credits. This page was last revised on September 2, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 2, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 13 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. submitted on September 2, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.