BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 A Bakersfield bakery is marking more than a century of history as the United States celebrates its 250th birthday.<\/p>\n
Pyrenees French Bakery, located in Old Town Kern, has been serving the community since 1887 \u2014 when it was known as Kern City French Bakery and bread was fired in a brick building. The building visible today at the Kern County Museum dates to around 1910.<\/p>\n
In 1944, Rick Laxague’s grandparents purchased the bakery and renamed it Pyrenees French Bakery, honoring their native Basque province.<\/p>\n
“My grandfather came over, grandmother, and, you know, then they ended up getting together and, you know, making everything work, making the American dream work for them as a a basque nation,” Laxague said.<\/p>\n
Laxague, the third-generation owner, grew up inside the bakery.<\/p>\n
“I used to get in trouble for riding my tricycle through here and throwing dough at the bakers,” Laxague said.<\/p>\n
He said the bakery \u2014 along with other longtime Old Town Kern businesses \u2014 helped shape Bakersfield’s identity.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got your Luigi’s, you’ve got Pyrenees Cafe, Wool Growers, Benjies. I mean, a lot of these people that have been around here as long as the bakery, if not longer, and they become part of what Bakersfield is,” said Laxague. “If you go out and you’re out of the states or whatever, and you happen to run into somebody that was in Bakersfield, chances are, if you mention any of those names, they’re gonna, they’re gonna know it.”<\/p>\n
While Laxague acknowledges the business has faced challenges as times have changed, he credits the Bakersfield community with keeping the bakery’s doors open.<\/p>\n
“I do have to thank the core people of Bakersfield, because what you’ve done is kept us open. You’ve stepped up, started buying our product again after we went through this major change to stay open, and you guys stepped up and did it. And that’s Bakersfield, Kern County, the people, they do that. You know, I’ve lived in other places, not so much. Bakersfield people come together and get stuff done,” Laxague said.<\/p>\n
Laxague said his goal is to keep the bakery in the family and pass it on to a fourth generation.<\/p>\n
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