Havilah, CA

Havilah is located about 20 miles off of State Route 58 on Caliente-Bodfish Road. From the town of Lake Isabella you are looking at about a 25-30 minute drive. Havilah was the original county seat of Kern County when the county was founded in 1866. In 1872 the county government was moved 50 miles away to Bakersfield, where it remains today.

Today Havilah is considered a ghost town, however some people still call Havilah home.  There are only two original ruins that remain from the times when this town boasted a population of over 2,000, and was the home of some 187 businesses. A fire in the 1920′s destroyed much of the town.  The road leading through town has markers laying out to show where the original buildings once stood.

In the 1960′s two replica buildings where built, one of the original Kern County Courthouse, and the other of the town’s school. Today the replica Courthouse serves as a museum and the school as a meeting place for the community. It’s unclear what the actual hours of the museum are as we had been there during the time in which it should have been open according to the posted sign, but it was not.

On the far end of town you will find the original Havilah graveyard. The graveyard has roughly 50 marked graves, as well as a number of unmarked. Most of the dates on the marked graves are from 1875-1910. A list of the known buried here can be found here.

Havilah is a nice stop if you are already in this area. To make a special trip you will likely be disappointed as there just isn’t really all that much to see.