Old Kern County Stories of the San Joaquin Valley

 In the 1940s, the facility commonly referred to as "Mother Friese's" was 

Miss Freise’s Maternity Hospital

, a popular privately owned facility located at 721 8th Street in Bakersfield, California. 

Key Facts About Miss Freise’s Maternity Hospital

• Ownership and Operation: The hospital was owned and operated by Wilhelmina "Minnie" Freise (also known as Minnie Freise Flickinger), a former World War I nurse with extensive surgical and medical administration experience.
• Active Years: It operated under the name "Miss Freise's" from 1935 to 1953. Before this, the building opened in 1923 as the Palm Maternity Hospital.
• Historical Significance: Known for offering a "homelike" atmosphere, it was the birthplace of thousands of Bakersfield residents during the mid-20th century. For example, in 1945, a 9½-day hospital stay for a birth cost approximately $105.62.
• Building Status: The original building at 721 8th Street is still standing today. After its tenure as a maternity hospital, it served as a nursing home until the mid-1970s and was later converted into a women’s and children’s shelter known as Exodus House in 2000. 

Community Legacy

For many residents born in Bakersfield during the 1940s and early 1950s, "Miss Freise’s" was the primary alternative to the larger Kern General Hospital (now Kern Medical Center) or home births. It was eventually superseded in community prominence by the opening of Greater Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in 1956. 

Janis Rawson MenicucciCalifornia History

Janis Rawson Menicucci

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Moderator

 ·1d ·

Bakersfield, California, 1952; true story when a group of boys went “on the lam.”

Scott Leahy

2d ·

From Life Magazine, Feb 11, 1952

"In Bakersfield, Calif. one afternoon last week six youngsters and a dog named Butch left their stomping grounds in a ramshackle slum district called "Billy Goat Acres" and set off to look for some excitement. As darkness fell and they grew hungry, the boys, ranging in age from 8 to 13, broke into a fruit store. Then they smashed

some windows in a used-car lot. Suddenly they came upon a parked automobile with the key still in the ignition, and with a 12-year-old at the wheel they started west across the Tehachapi Mountains.

After careening 20 miles they sideswiped a truck, blew out two tires and had to abandon the car. But luck was with them; they found another in a rancher's garage. One hundred and four hair-raising miles later, near Los Angeles, their new car skidded into a soft shoulder and the boys were forced to leave that one, too. In a matter of minutes, they picked up another, but this time the owner, awakened by the noise, called the police.

At 95 mph the boys auto and two pursuing radio cars roared onto Los Angeles' Sepulveda Boulevard. Finally the cops, who had noted that the occupants of the fleeing car all seemed to be hunched far down in their seats, opened fire. After 1l shots (see bullet holes in trunk) their target hit a dip in the road, rocked up on two wheels and screeched to a stop. The police approached warily, guns drawn against what they fully expected was a carload of adult desperadoes. Out popped the unhurt and tousle-headed members of the Billy Goat Acres Mob."

Some additional items gleaned from elsewhere: The boys' wild flight was precipitated by one of the older boys having a beef at home followed by a decision to run away. That boy's two younger brothers decided to join the exodus, followed by three other friends. The boy you see on the left was not the oldest but was easily the tallest and served as the stunt driver. The three tallest boys all ended up having to go to Juvie for some unknown duration but all of the boys survived and had families of their own. The driver's name was Howard McAbee, who grew up to be a carpenter and later with his wife started and ran the chain of mini-markets called Howard's scattered throughout Kern County.