History
19th century
The Gorman area was part of Rancho Los Alamos y Agua Caliente, an 1846 Mexican land grant.
The first American settler in the area was a man named Charles Johnson, after 1853. [4] The 1853 account of Lt. Robert S. Williamson of the vicinity for the transcontinental railroad survey expedition report makes no mention of any habitations on the east side of the pass, only that a good wagon road (Stockton–Los Angeles Road) passed through it. [6]
After Johnson's death, his widow, Soledad Girado ran the place, which by 1855 had become known as Rancho la Viuda (Widow's Station). [4] Historian Frank F. Latta noted that the Johnsons' daughter, Isabel, was the only girl to study at the historic Escuela Normal of Los Angeles in the 1860s. [7]
Reed's Station
A man named Reed took up residence next, calling it Reed's Ranch. In 1857 a woman was killed on his ranch when the great Fort Tejon earthquake struck the area and collapsed the roof of his adobe house. [8]
Reed then built a substantial log house, which became Reed's Station, on the Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division Stations in 1858. A stop for the postal stagecoach, it was located 8 miles southeast of Fort Tejon and 14 miles west of French John's Station.
The Butterfield Overland Mail ceased in 1861, but was replaced later by the Telegraph Stage Line, which stopped at most of the former stations, including at renamed Gorman's, where the horses were changed. Six of them were used for the pull up Tejon Pass from Bakersfield to Gorman's. [7]
Gorman
It was next bought by David W. Alexander, the sheriff of Los Angeles County, who sold the place to James Gorman Sr. in 1867 or 1868. [9] The log "public house", which furnished food, lodgings, and liquor, soon became known as Gorman's Station a.k.a. Gorman Station. [7] James Gorman was reportedly at Fort Tejon as a civilian teamster and herder in 1854 while it was being built. On May 7th, 1873, Gorman died on the ride home from Los Angeles after he fell out of his supply wagon and was run over by its own wheels.
The first post office at Gorman Station was established sometime between December 1, 1877 and March 1, 1878 with Mary E. Wilson – likely James Gorman's sister-in-law – as postmaster. Henry Gorman, James's son, was appointed postmaster in January 1887; Edward Gorman, another son, took over the position in September 1893. (The community today is served by a contract postal unit in the local market, but delivery is through the Lebec post office.) James Gorman's widow, Johanna, continued to run the family farm and the roadside rest until she died in 1889.
In or around 1898, the ranch was bought by Oscar Ralphs, whose brother, George, had already begun a business in Los Angeles (in 1872) that eventually became the Ralphs supermarket chain. [4] [9]
20th century
They pioneered country stations when they put this one in.
—Lloyd Ralphs, commenting on the first gas station built on the Ridge Route, in 1923. [4]
In 1901, Oscar Ralphs married Mary McKenzie, who, as Mary Ralphs, later served 57 years on the Gorman School Board (from 1908 to 1965) and was honored for her service by Vice President Hubert Humphrey at a National School Boards Association convention. [9] [10]
The 1960 movie Psycho also briefly featured footage filmed in the township. [11]
- Ridge Route
The Ridge Route road through Gorman was paved in 1919. In 1923, the first gasoline station in California to be located away from a railroad track was established by Standard Oil. [4] Gorman was a stop on the Ridge Route, and Highway 99 after 1926, where its Standard service station beckoned travelers. It was a rest stop for the Greyhound bus until 1977, and for long-distance truckers.
"Being located on the busiest highway in California," wrote historian Kane, "the people of Gorman knew well the need for an ambulance, as so many of the injured were brought to their homes. An ambulance service was established in 1932 with the purchase of an old Packard automobile that was converted into an emergency unit, equipped with one stretcher. The ambulance could be reached through the switchboard at the motel, and whoever was available would drive it." [4]
Aviator Charles Lindbergh established a camp in 1930 on the northeast side of the Gorman Hills, where he tested and flew a folded-wing glider called the Albatross. [4]
- Interstate 5
Interstate 5 replaced U.S. Route 99 through Gorman and over Tejon Pass in 1964.
- The Umbrellas
"The Umbrellas," a site-specific art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, surrounded Gorman and Tejon Pass in late September and early October 1991. It was created with 1,760 large yellow umbrellas, placed from the roadsides to the mountainsides. A simultaneous installation of blue umbrellas was created in Japan. Thousands of visitors flocked to Gorman from all over the world. [12]
21st century
In January 2006, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected a bid by 32 of the area's 75 property owners to give up Gorman so it could be annexed to Kern County. Reasons cited for the proposal included red tape and zoning regulations restricting development in Los Angeles County. However, Los Angeles County and opponents of the proposal did not want to lose sales and occupancy-tax revenue the county collected annually from Gorman businesses. [2] [3]
On June 15, 2024, a wildfire known as the Post Fire broke out in Gorman. It quickly burned 22 square miles of land near the Interstate 5 freeway. [13] More than a thousand firefighters were assigned to battle the blaze, particularly near the Pyramid Lake recreation area. The fire was 100% contained on Wednesday, June 26, after burning for 11 days. The cause is under investigation. [14]
Frazier Park is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Kern County, California. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of Lebec, at an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m). It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass. The population was 2,592 in the 2020 census, down from 2,691 in 2010.
Lake of the Woods is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Kern County, California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 790.
Lebec is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in southwestern Kern County, California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,239.
Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated community in southwestern Kern County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,315. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Pine Mountain Club as a census-designated place (CDP). It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass.
The Tejon Pass, previously known as Portezuelo de Cortes, Portezuela de Castac, and Fort Tejon Pass is a mountain pass between the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains and northeastern San Emigdio Mountains, linking Southern California north to the Central Valley. Both the pass and the grade north of it to the Central Valley are commonly referred to as "the Grapevine". It has been traversed by major roads such as the El Camino Viejo, the Stockton – Los Angeles Road, the Ridge Route, U.S. Route 99, and now Interstate 5.
The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route and colloquially known as the Grapevine, was a two-lane highway between Los Angeles County and Kern County, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin Valley over the Tejon Pass and the rugged Sierra Pelona Mountains ridge south of Gorman. Much of the old road runs through the Angeles National Forest, and passes many historical landmarks, including the National Forest Inn, Reservoir Summit, Kelly's Half Way Inn, Tumble Inn, and Sandberg's Summit Hotel. North of the forest, the Ridge Route passed through Deadman's Curve before ending at Grapevine.
Neenach is an agricultural settlement in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, with a population of about 800. It is facing a massive change with the proposed construction of a 23,000-home planned community to its north called Centennial.
Grapevine is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States, at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The small village is directly adjacent to Interstate 5 and consists mainly of travelers and roadside services. At an elevation of 1,499 feet (457 m), the community is located at the foot of a grade known as the Grapevine that lies in Grapevine Canyon through the Tejon Pass.
Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon between the San Emigdio Mountains and Tehachapi Mountains. It is in the area of Tejon Pass along Interstate 5 in Kern County, California, the main route through the mountain ranges separating the Central Valley from the Los Angeles Basin and Southern California. The fort's location protected the San Joaquin Valley from the south and west.
Wheeler Ridge is an unincorporated community in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley, within Kern County, California. It is at the junction of the valley floor and the Wheeler Ridge landform of the Tehachapi Mountains.
The Sierra Pelona, also known as the Sierra Pelona Ridge or the Sierra Pelona Mountains, is a mountain ridge in the Transverse Ranges in Southern California. Located in northwest Los Angeles County, the ridge is bordered on the north by the San Andreas fault and lies within and is surrounded by the Angeles National Forest.
Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in California runs 796.77 miles (1,282.28 km) across the length of the state from San Ysidro to the Oregon state line south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan area. It is the longest interstate in California, and accounts for more than half of I-5's total length. It is also the second longest stretch of Interstate Highway with a single designation within a single state after I-10 in Texas.
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. Lockwood Valley is part of the district even though it is within Ventura County, and Gorman students are accepted into the high school by special permit.
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, Frazier Park, Lake of the Woods, Pinon Pines, and Pine Mountain Club, in Kern County, Gorman in Los Angeles County and Lockwood Valley within Kern and Ventura counties. They are all within or near the Tejon Pass, which links Southern California with the San Joaquin Valley. Also sometimes included within the communities are Cuddy Valley, Grapevine, Neenach and New Cuyama.
The Mountain Enterprise is a weekly newspaper published since 1966, circulating in the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass east and west of the Grapevine section of the Interstate 5 in the San Emigdio Mountains region of California, midway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. Its sister publication is The New Mountain Pioneer, published monthly.
Gorman Joint School District is a public school district in Gorman, California. It is the smallest school district in Los Angeles County.
Tejon Mountain Village is a proposed residential, commercial, and recreational development of pristine, rugged property in the Tehachapi Mountains owned by the Tejon Ranch Company in Lebec, southern Kern County, California. The development includes the largest conservation and land-use agreement in California history. It was approved by the county's Board of Supervisors in October 2009. Opponents launched a legal challenge that was denied in state district court in April 2012.
Kern County’s transportation system was quoted as the “unseen industry.” Located at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, the county is at a prime location to ship goods west to the central coast, south to ports in Los Angeles, and east to corridors that connect to the rest of the country. It is also on major corridors that link to all northern points.
The Wheeler Ridge Interchange is a freeway interchange near Wheeler Ridge, California, where State Route 99 (SR 99) merges with Interstate 5 (I-5). Located approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Bakersfield, it is the southernmost freeway interchange in the San Joaquin Valley.
Centennial, California is a proposed 12,323-acre (49.87 km2) master-planned community on Tejon Ranch in northwestern Los Angeles County between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. It is situated in the far western Antelope Valley at the foothills of the Sierra Pelona and Tehachapi Mountains. It would be built along California State Route 138 east of Interstate 5 and northeast of Quail Lake.
United States 
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