Garces Memorial Circle
| Garces Memorial Circle | |
|---|---|
 Sculpture of Padre Francisco Garcés in Garces Memorial Circle | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Bakersfield, California | |
| Coordinates | 35°23′13″N 119°01′08″W / 35.387°N 119.019°W |
| Roads at junction |  SR 204 (Golden State Avenue)Chester Avenue 30th Street |
| Construction | |
| Type | Traffic circle with an overpass flyover |
| Opened | 1932 |
| Maintained by | Caltrans, City of Bakersfield |
| Designated | October 21, 1937 |
| Reference no. | 277 |
Garces Memorial Traffic Circle, informally known as Garces Circle or just The Circle, is a traffic circle in Bakersfield, California. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chester Avenue, Golden State Avenue (State Route 204) and 30th Street. An overpass stands over the circle, allowing through traffic on Golden State Avenue to bypass it.
The traffic circle honors Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garcés, who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. A California Historical Landmark, it was approximately on this site where Garcés visited an Indian rancheria on May 7, 1776.
History
[edit]
The Circle was originally built as a part of US 99 in approximately 1932. A large 1939 sculpture of Father Francisco Garcés by John Palo-Kangas rests inside the circle.
At 280 feet (85 m) of inner diameter, the Garces Memorial Traffic Circle is a smaller sibling of the similar 360-foot (110 m) inner-diameter 1930 Long Beach Traffic Circle located in Long Beach.
Landmark
[edit]California Historical Landmark reads:
- NO. 277 GARCÉS CIRCLE - This is the approximate site of the Indian rancheria visited by Franciscan friar Padre Francisco Garcés on May 7, 1776. Padre Garcés named this spot San Miguel de los Noches por el Santa Príncipe.[1][2]