Frazier Park is a village and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

. It is west of Lebec, at an elevation of . It is one of the

Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass The Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, or the Frazier Mountain Communities, in the San Emigdio Mountains is a region of California that includes Lebec, California, Lebec, Frazier Park, California, Frazier Park, Lake of the Woods, California ...

. The population was 2,592 in the 2020 census, down from 2,691 in 2010.

History

The earliest record relating to Frazier Park was a report in 1854 that lumber was being produced there from Frazier Mountain trees for use at the new Army post at nearby Fort Tejon. Local historian Bonnie Ketterl Kane wrote that the mill was "supposedly" at the southeast end of the present community. She cited another report that a

Kitanemuk The Kitanemuk are an Indigenous people of California and were a tribal village of the Kawaiisu Nation. The Kawaiisu traditionally lived in the Tehachapi Mountains and the Antelope Valley area of the western Mojave Desert of southern Californi ...

Indian referred to the site as Campo del Soldado (Soldier's Camp), "which was where the soldiers stayed when they cut timber from a mountain they called Pinery Mountain, today's Frazier Mountain."''A View From the Ridge Route,'' Volume II, "The Fort Tejon Era," Bonnie's Books, 2002. The community was established in 1925 by Harry McBain, who named it in 1926 for Frazier Mountain, on its southern flank. Its post office was established on September 14, 1927, with Charles B. Fife as the first postmaster.Richard Bailey, ''Kern County Place Names,'' cited in Curtis Darling, ''Kern County Place Names,'' Pioneer Publishing Co., 1998. Frazier Park was used in filming for ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...

'' television show. Frazier Park is the setting of the 2011 film '' The FP'' and 1974's '' The Black Six''. On October 11, 2023, a winning Powerball lottery ticket worth $1.75 billion was sold in Frazier Park. The owners of the Midway Market & Liquor store where the ticket was purchased receive a $1 million bonus for selling the billion-dollar ticket.

Geography

Frazier Park lies within Cuddy Canyon in the

San Emigdio Mountains The San Emigdio Mountains are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southe ...

, within the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

. Mount Pinos is the highest peak in the area at . Other nearby communities include

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (; ) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and of shoreline. It is fed by t ...

(), Lebec (), Pine Mountain Club (), and Mettler (). Santa Clarita is the nearest large city to the south on

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

(I-5), and

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

is the largest city to the north of

(I-5). The

San Andreas fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

transects the region, turning southeast on the west side of Interstate 5, just southwest of the Frazier Park exit in what is known as the Big Bend of the San Andreas. The Garlock Fault, California's second largest, intersects the San Andreas just east of town and heads northeast along the

Tehachapi Mountains The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwe ...

. The nearest highway is Interstate 5, east of the community. The main road through Frazier Park is Frazier Mountain Park Road, which runs east to Lebec and I-5 and west to Lake of the Woods.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Frazier Park has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Population

2020

The 2020 United States Census reported that Frazier Park had a population of 2,592. The racial makeup of Frazier Park was 1,865 (71.9%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 21 (0.8%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 39 (1.5%) Native American, 38 (1.4%) Asian, 5 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 289 from other races, and 335 from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 681 persons.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Frazier Park had a population of 2,691. The population density was . The racial makeup of Frazier Park was 2,297 (85.4%)

, 16 (0.6%)

, 31 (1.2%) Native American, 22 (0.8%) Asian, 3 (0.1%)

, 212 (7.9%) from other races, and 110 (4.1%) from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 528 persons (19.6%). The Census reported that 2,691 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 1,086 households, out of which 342 (31.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 487 (44.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 116 (10.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 69 (6.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 83 (7.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 312 households (28.7%) were made up of individuals, and 97 (8.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48. There were 672

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(61.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.08. The population included 643 people (23.9%) under the age of 18, 243 people (9.0%) aged 18 to 24, 616 people (22.9%) aged 25 to 44, 874 people (32.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 315 people (11.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.4 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males. There were 1,354 housing units at an average density of , of which 673 (62.0%) were owner-occupied, and 413 (38.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.0%. 1,627 people (60.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,064 people (39.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

A total of 2,348 people lived in Frazier Park in 2000, of which 2,055 (87 percent) were

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. Other residents included 34 American Indians or

Alaska natives Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...

, 19

Asians "Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...

, and 14 blacks. There were 292

Hispanics The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appli ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

of any race. The median age for Frazier Park residents was 38 years compared with 35 for the nation as a whole. Frazier Park also had slightly more veterans than its share — 293, or 17%, compared to 13% around the country. It had a significantly higher percentage of disabled people than the rest of the nation — 36% vice 19%. In contrast with the country at large, where 64% of adults were working, Frazier Park had 48% employed. Those who were working had to travel some 42 minutes to their jobs, compared to 25 minutes for most Americans. Frazier Park households had a lower median income than the nation as a whole — $46,857, compared to $50,046. There were 291 people (12%) below the

poverty level The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

in Frazier Park in 2000. That is the same proportion as the entire country. Almost a quarter of Frazier Park's 1,203 housing units (23%) were vacant when the census was taken in March 2000 — much higher than the national rate of 9%. This may be explained by the fact that many Frazier Park properties are second or seasonal homes. Property owners lived in about seven of every 10 occupied units, renters in the other three — nearly the same as the remainder of the nation.

Government

Frazier Park is governed by the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

Education

The community is a part of the

El Tejon Unified School District The El Tejon Unified School District serves kindergarten-through-12th-grade students in the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, which include Frazier Park, Lebec, and Pine Mountain Club in the southern mountains of Kern County, California ...

. Frazier Park

Elementary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

is the only non-charter school that lies within Frazier Park; it educates children in kindergarten through fourth grade. El Tejon

Middle School Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

in Lebec takes district students from the fifth through the eighth grade. Frazier Mountain High School, also in Lebec, was founded in 1995 for ninth- through 12th-graders.

Homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

is important in Frazier Park and surrounding areas, according to a March 2008 report in the ''Mountain Enterprise,'' which added:

Per capita, the Mountain Communities may have one of the highest rates of homeschooling in the state, far above the national average of 2% to 4%, Holly Van Houten... home-school parent of the areasaid. Estimates range between 8% and 30% — somewhere between 100 and 400 children, she reports.

Frazier Park hosts a branch of the Valley Oaks Community Charter School, headquartered in Bakersfield. The charter school is designed to "provide opportunities, support, and accountability for parents in their homeschooling endeavors."

Transportation

Kern Transit provides weekday service from the Flying J gas station via the Route 130 bus to

. Kern Transit also provides bus service Monday through Saturday during the summer months to Lebec, Gorman,

, Pinon Pines, and Pine Mountain Club. It offers a dial-a-ride service all year.

Media

*'' The Mountain Enterprise,'' weekly newspaper *'' The Bakersfield Californian''

In popular culture

The Black Six (1973), a blaxploitation biker film directed by Matt Cimber and featuring several NFL stars was made in the area.

References

{{Kern County, California, state=collapsed Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass Census-designated places in California Census-designated places in Kern County, California San Emigdio Mountains 1925 establishments in California Populated places established in 1925