Tehachapi News

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You may have noticed the new Walking Tour signs installed around downtown in the last few weeks. This has been part of an ongoing project of the Tehachapi Heritage League to replace the old signs, many of which were illegible or that had been removed from their locations. In addition, the out-of-date brochure was not easily available and the brochure was only available for purchase.

A beautiful new free brochure to guide visitors to the 29 sites is now available at the Tehachapi Museum, the Chamber of Commerce and other locations where tourist information is available. The self-guided tour has information on 24 historic sites, and on five of the historic murals, all that had been completed at the time the brochure went to print.

Many of the plaques show photographs of the buildings originally on the sites, especially in cases where the original building is no longer in existence, or may have been substantially altered. All photos came from the Tehachapi Heritage League archives.

The total cost of the project was approximately $13,000. Grants were received from the Kern Board of Trade, Main Street Tehachapi, donations in kind from Anthony McDemas, who provided a portion of the graphic design, and the City of Tehachapi, which provided the employees and equipment for installation.

Under the supervision of Mike Pera, two teams, consisting of Dennis Artzer and Jerry Sorenson, and Garrett Pera and Evan McBride, dug the holes, installed the poles and also attached the wall-mounted signs where necessary. Anthony McDemas also assisted with the installation.

The research for the new signs was based on the original signs that were installed many years ago, with additional research by Del Troy and Charles White. 

The walking path that the tour follows has been altered as well, to include additional sites. Several signs are yet to be installed, due to the construction at the BeeKay Theatre and the Tehachapi Depot, but the tour can be easily followed without those signs.

Later in the summer, a special event will be scheduled with docents leading tours of the sites. In the meantime, you are invited to pick up a brochure and take the one to one half hour stroll around historic downtown.