Located adjacent to Sam Lynn Ballpark and the Beale Memorial Clock Tower, it is a part of the Kern County Museum.

A site on Chester Avenue near the Kern River, which the county already owned, was selected.

The location was chosen, in part, for two primary reasons: Chester Avenue was the route for U.S. Route 99 (Golden State Highway), the main highway connecting northern and southern California, and the site was adjacent to the Kern County Fairgrounds.

[1][2] The building was designed by Charles H. Biggar in 1927 and completed in 1928, but the official opening was not until September 29, 1929.

By 1952, the museum was large enough that the Chamber of Commerce would move out of the building to a location in downtown.