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History · Hillcrest

Hillcrest’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Hillcrest. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Hillcrest is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California. The population was 10,528 at the 2020 census.

Half of its homes were built before 1956.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hillcrest yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Hillcrest’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hillcrest’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from HillcrestWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Hillcrest.Meet them →
By decade

Hillcrest, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Hillcrest is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Hillcrest has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Kern Branch, Beale Memorial Library in Bakersfield, 1.9 miles away.

Hillcrest and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Hillcrest. Tap a dot.
Kern Branch, Beale Memorial LibraryFirst Baptist ChurchBakersfield California BuildingTevis BlockJastro BuildingWoman’s Club of Bakersfield

Closest to Hillcrest

Kern Branch, Beale Memorial LibraryBakersfield · Building1.9miFirst Baptist ChurchBakersfield · Built 19313.3miBakersfield California BuildingBakersfield · Building3.5miTevis BlockBakersfield · Built 18933.6miJastro BuildingBakersfield · Built 19173.7mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Kern Branch, Beale Memorial Library’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Hillcrest?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Hillcrest’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Bakersfield📜 Arvin📜 Shafter📜 McFarland
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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