Weedpatch, California

Weedpatch is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. Weedpatch is 10mi south-southeast of Bakersfield. It is considered to be one of the poorest areas in Kern County.GeographyThe community, which lies at an elevation of 387 feet, is situated off State Route 184 southeast of Bakersfield, south of Lamont and about 5mi south of State Route 58, the Bakersfield - Tehachapi Highway. It is at. According to the United States Census Bureau, Weedpatch has an area of 3.6sqmi.HistoryAlthough the name Weed Patch was applied to the site as early as 1874, the community began only in 1922. The town was also named Alexander's Corner in honor of Cal Alexander, a resident.Weedpatch is the site of the Arvin Federal Government Camp, known colloquially (and in the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath) as "Weedpatch Camp." This camp was a government rescue center for distressed migrant workers fleeing the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, during the Great Depression. The camp still aids migrant workers.The migrant camp then and now is actually 1 mile south of Weedpatch on Sunset just off of Weedpatch Hwy.