Editing Tehachapi, California (section)

==History==

[[File:2009-0726-CA-Tehachapi-ErreaHouse.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Errea House]], originally built in the early 1870s in Tehichipa, was moved to Tehachapi in 1900 and is now a museum; it is also listed on the NRHP.]]

The [[Kawaiisu|Kawaiisu people]] (also '''Nuwu''' ("people" in Kawaiisu), or '''Nuooah''') are the Native American tribe whose homeland was the Tehachapi Valley, and seasonally the southern [[Sierra Nevada]] and Mojave Desert, for thousands of years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gracey |first=Pat Davis |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Visitor Guide: Tehachapi: In the beginning ... |url=https://www.tehachapinews.com/visitor-guide/visitor-guide-tehachapi-in-the-beginning/article_19465214-ec28-11ec-9fb5-7ba67bd4d8d9.amp.html |access-date=July 20, 2022 |website=Tehachapi News}}</ref>

One possibility for the origin of the name Tehachapi comes from the [[Kawaiisu language]]. It may be derived from the word for "hard climb" or ''tihachipia'', according to the Tomi-Kahni Resource Center.<ref name="auto"/> The settlement has been formerly known and spelled as: Tehachapai;<ref name=gnis /> Tehachapa;<ref name=gnis /> Tehachepi;<ref name=gnis /> Tehachipi;<ref name=gnis /> and Summit Station.<ref name=CGN /> According to [[Yokuts]] informant Wahumchah, recorded by anthropologist [[Frank Forrest Latta]], ''Tehachapi'' derives from a Yokuts-Ute amalgam, from Yokuts ''taheech[e]'' "oak-covered flat" + Ute ''pah''' "water" (cl. [[Paiute|Pah-ute]], lit. 'Water Ute'). On an 1864 map of California, the name appears as ''Taheechepah.''<ref>Frank F. Latta, Handbook of Yokuts Indians 2nd ed. (1977), pg. 282-283</ref>

The original settlement in the Tehachapi Valley, once called Williamsburg or [[Tehichipa, California|'Tehichipa']], was founded in the 1860s. Now known as [[Old Town, Kern County, California|‘Old Town’]], it was located four miles west of present-day downtown Tehachapi and was an important station on the road linking the San Joaquin Valley with Southern California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Town (Tehachapi) |url=https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/643 |access-date=February 9, 2024 |website=CA State Parks |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Tehachapi News 2016">{{cite web | title=Tehachapi: A guide to our communities | website=Tehachapi News | date=May 18, 2016 | url=https://www.tehachapinews.com/visitor-guide/about-tehachapi/tehachapi-a-guide-to-our-communities/article_bb16977f-2684-567c-8f48-0c09b0ad7a60.html | access-date=November 30, 2022}}</ref> It is now registered as [[California Historical Landmark]] #643 for being the oldest settlement in the Tehachapi Valley.<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|643|Tehachapi|2012-10-07}}</ref>

In 1869, Peter D. Greene, a gold prospector and rancher who originally arrived in 1856, was appointed postmaster of a new post office near the Tomlinson Stage Company station at Oak Creek to be called ‘Tehichipa’, which was the only post office in the area. In 1875, Greene founded the community of Greenwich three miles east of Williamsburg and was appointed postmaster there.<ref name="History">[https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Place&Town=Tehachapi&State=California Historical Markers and War Memorials in Tehachapi, California], Historical Markers and War Memorials in Tehachapi, California, Accessed February 9, 2024.</ref>

Under the leadership of civil engineer J.B. Harris, the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] line through the [[Tehachapi Pass]] was completed in July 1876 and became the final link connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. A telegraph office near the railroad tracks located one mile east of Greenwich was the first structure on the empty plain and would become the site of the [[Tehachapi Railroad Depot]] and the beginning of the downtown core. The depot is now on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] (NRHP)—and was the oldest building in downtown Tehachapi until it burned in June 2008. The building had been in the final stages of becoming a museum.<ref>{{cite news | title = Depot fire caused by two men shooting off bottle rockets | url = http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewPost/65302 | newspaper = [[Tehachapi News]] | access-date = July 10, 2008 }}</ref> It has since been rebuilt using the original plans with only minor modifications to meet modern building codes. The new depot was dedicated on June 5, 2010.<ref name="Depot">[http://www.tehachapidepot.com/ Tehachapi Depot Groundbreaking], Tehachapi Depot Back on Track, June 13, 2009, Accessed August 8, 2009.</ref>

The new railroad town was given the name of Tehachapi Summit, and Williamsburg and Greenwich, having been bypassed by the railroad, saw their population decline as many of the area's residents moved to the new town. In 1885, Greene moved the post office to Tehachapi Summit, the postal name was later changed to ‘Tehachapi’ in 1893. The town was incorporated on August 13, 1909.

===1952 Kern County earthquake===

Tehachapi experienced the [[Richter Scale|7.3]] magnitude [[1952 Kern County earthquake]] on the [[White Wolf Fault]]. At the time, the earthquake was the largest in Southern California in the twentieth century and the largest since the [[1872 Lone Pine earthquake]]. It was felt as far away as [[Reno, Nevada]]. Twelve people died in the quake and severe damage was done to buildings and rail lines in the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.data.scec.org/chrono_index/kerncoun.html|title=Southern California Earthquake Data Center|access-date=January 14, 2007|archive-date=November 11, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111032608/http://www.data.scec.org/chrono_index/kerncoun.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>