History

Greek immigrants began arriving in the Bakersfield area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, drawn primarily by the railroad industry that was then a defining feature of the Kern County economy. Others found their footing in farming, fresh fruit stands, confectionary shops, restaurants, shoe shine stands, barber shops, and street corner popcorn and peanut carts in downtown and east Bakersfield. One early settler operated the first silent movie theater in the city. As their numbers grew through the 1910s and early 1920s, these industrious immigrants felt the need to organize themselves to promote the welfare of their faith, heritage, and community.

In 1924 the community purchased property at 401 Truxtun Avenue and built a small hall to serve as both a religious and social gathering place, formally naming themselves the Hellenic American Community of Bakersfield that same year. A baptismal font purchased and donated to the church in 1925 by Mr. Bill Christy has remained in continuous use ever since, a tangible thread connecting the founding generation to all who have been baptized in the century that followed. By the early 1930s the community had grown from fewer than one hundred to more than two hundred families, and the need for a dedicated church building had become clear. A small church was built behind the hall in 1932, with the cornerstone laid by Father Luis Skidatari, and on April 23, 1932, the community formally adopted the name the Hellenic Community of St. George Greek Orthodox Church.

In 1947 the community purchased the adjacent property at 405 Truxtun and constructed the present church building, selling the 1932 structure, which its new owners moved to the corner of Niles Street and Oswell. The Kern County earthquake of 1952 tested the young community's resilience, damaging the bell towers of the new church and condemning the 1924 hall, which was eventually demolished. Recovery was steady, and in 1956 His Grace Bishop Demetrios of the Diocese of Los Angeles consecrated the church, completing its canonical standing as a house of Orthodox Christian worship.

In June 2024 the community celebrated its centennial with a gala dinner and dance, honoring a hundred years of Orthodox Christian witness in the San Joaquin Valley.

Saint George Greek Orthodox Church at 401 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Kern County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a diverse and vibrant community of Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Serbian, Egyptian, Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Middle Eastern Orthodox Christians who have gathered for more than a century around the ancient faith their immigrant founders carried to the southern end of California's great central valley.