Bakersfield Central Park
Bakersfield, California
Between 19th and 21st streets, next to R Street in Bakersfield lies Bakersfield's Central Park. Central Park was first established in August of 1921. In the park is the Mill Creek Bridge, which is actually part of Kern Island Canal, the canal having been expanded and made to look like a creek as it goes through the park. The bridge and creek expansions occurred in 2009. However, there originally was a foot bridge over the canal as early as 1938.
Long before the covered bridge was built, shop keepers and residents near the park would report a ghostly woman dressed all in white, wandering the park, wearing a white flowing dress or robe. She supposedly is often seen floating over the canal, weeping softly before eventually disappearing. She is usually only seen around dawn.
The urban legend goes on to state that she was murdered, but, sadly the legend does not go into any specifics. Her body was rumored to have been found in the old Pacific Southern Foundry across the street from the park. When they were tearing down the building they supposedly found her under the floorboards, her bones showing signs of her having been shot. Another version of the story has her body being found on the other side of the park.
The story may sound a bit familiar to you, as there are many Lady in White or White Lady stories in California. Other prominent White Lady stories include the White Lady of Santa Cruz and the White Lady of El Fandango Restaurant in Old Town San Diego. Even Charlotte of the famous Adelaida Cemetery on the Central Coast has often been described the same as a "white lady ghost".
At times this tale has been connected to that of La Llorona, with the teller of the tale relating their similarities, but after you get past the white dress, the weeping, and the proximity of the canal, there is actually very little in common with her origin and story. This ghost's story mentions nothing about her children, let alone her children being either murdered by the spirit or dying through her neglect. There is also nothing in the urban legend about the ghost's children drowning in the canal.
So if you happen to be in Bakersfield's Central Park near dawn, look towards the canal, you may see another of California's White Ladies!
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Comments:
- Anonymous on 2018-01-23 said:
- Research early 70's at PSF plant crews took out a worn out concrete slab in stand grinder area next to inspection dept.on graveyard shift in prep for new slab. Workers preparing the foundation area for pour found human remains. The area was secured and the remains removed. It was rumored among the crew at the time that "The Bones" were those of a woman who was associated with gangsters back in the day, she went missing at the time the old slab was first poured. Older plant employees who worked the night shifts before the oil embargo when the plant ran 24 hr a day three shifts claimed to have felt a tingling in their feet while working cleaning the base castings on the stand grinders after midnight over the years.
First Created: 2014-10-19
Last Edited: 2014-10-19
