Caliente, California

Caliente is an unincorporated town in Kern County, California, with a population of 1,019. [Location name, population, and county from National Geographic Names Database. Location is identified by USGS as feature ID 1660417. ] Telephone numbers in Caliente follow the format (661) 867-xxxx and the ZIP Code is 93518. [ZIP Code from sign hanging on United States Postal Service post office.] It is located south of a small community named Walker Basin in the same telephone exchange area.

History

Established in the 1870s, Caliente was originally named Allens Camp for a cattle rancher and settler named Gabriel Allen. Later, the name Agua Caliente, coming from hot springs in the area, was proposed and may have been used. This name conflicted with the community of the same name in Sonoma County. With the railroad's arrival in 1875, the shortened name Caliente was adopted. [Establishment date and "Agua Caliente" name from, Bailey, Richard C., "Kern County Place Names", (Bakersfield, California: Merchant's Printing and Lithography Co., 1967). "Allens Camp" from Dulme, Glenn, "Chapter 11: The San Bernardino County Flurry," "Boom of the Eighties in Southern California," (San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1944) pp. 127.]

Bealville is a district about one mile (1.6 km) to the south toward SR58 and along Caliente-Bodfish Road. [Location and name from National Geographic Names Database and is feature ID 252850.] It is named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale who served in the US Army, and also as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada. He was also appointed as US Surveyor General of California. [Army and Indian assignments from: "Kern County," "California Historic Landmarks," (Sacramento, California: State of California, Resources Agency, 1996) pp. 80. Surveyor General title from, Dulme, Glenn, "Chapter 11: The San Bernardino County Flurry," "Boom of the Eighties in Southern California," (San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1944) pp. 127.] Beale established a home in this area about 1855. The location is commemorated by a State Historic Landmark plaque along Caliente-Bodfish Road. ["Kern County," "California Historic Landmarks," (Sacramento, California: State of California, Resources Agency, 1996) pp. 80. Historic Landmark #741, see photo.]

Today

The sound of diesel locomotives and railroad horns are present day and night. The community is along the track of the Union Pacific Railroad, Mojave Subdivision. The track loops around the post office as it winds through the local hills. Trains climb toward the Tehachapi summit eastbound or descend toward Bakersfield if westbound.

SR58 is about two driving miles south of Caliente.

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ee also

* Keene, California
* Tehachapi Loop

Notes

External links