Feb 4 2018

Jean Eyrauds Saloon

Posted by admin

While on one of my history seeking adventures about 25 years ago, I met the owner of an old home in East Bakersfield. The owner of the home happened to be the great grandson of Jean Eyraud, the proprietor of the Jean Eyraud Saloon.

Jean Eyraud Saloon (source: Todd Walker, Kern County of Old)

Now, most of you probably have never heard of this saloon or even knew it existed, and neither did I at the time. Anyways, after we got to talking a while about Bakersfield and it’s history he mentioned that his great grandfather, Jean Eyraud, had owned a saloon on 21st Street and Baker across from the old train depot, and that he had a trunk containing old family photos and pictures of the inside and outside of the Saloon and other businesses on the block. Trying to hold my excitement back I said I would love to check it out. He took me down to the cellar of the old house, and there it was an old trunk from the 1800s! After looking through the old trunk, he had mentioned he wasn’t interested in anything in it, and that he had planned on selling or getting rid of it. Being a collector of old Kern County photographs I gladly purchased just the photos of the Saloon and the various buildings around it from him. I told him that he should at least keep the pictures of his family and the old trunk. Anyways, that was 25 years ago and I’m not sure whatever happened to him. Since then I have researched the old photographs and believe them to be from around 1890 to 1900. I have yet to find any old advertisement or any other photographs from this Saloon besides the ones I have. Here’s all the pictures I got from him. Notice the picture in front of the Saloon with everybody holding old bottles, lots of details! Notice the “Ladies Entrance” in the picture with the restaurant in it. Definitely different times back then! Hope you enjoy these pictures, I’ve been wanting to contribute them to Kern Countys photo collection for years.

written by Todd Walker (Source: Facebook – Kern County of Old)