Pyrenees French Bakery identified again with its historic building at Kern County Museum
May 9—After months of preparation and plain old hard work, the Pyrenees French Bakery building has been restored in Pioneer Village at the Kern County Museum.
Situated next door to the newly opened "Bakersfield Sound" exhibit, the Western-style storefront is freshly painted, includes an antique glass display case inside, and several vintage black-and-white photos on the walls, courtesy of the Laxague family, the longtime owners of the bakery still operating in Old Town Kern.
Ironically the 110-year-old wood-frame building, which became the bakery's home near Baker Street, was used at the museum to portray a watch-makers shop, a dress-maker's shop and a hat shop over the past six decades.
Now the exhibit has come full-circle — and the well-known Pyrenees French Bakery brand welcomes visitors to the red-and-white storefront.
"I really feel gratified, personally," said Kern County Museum Executive Director Mike McCoy. "This is such an important piece of Kern County history, and to bring it back to what it was is wonderful."
The old building, constructed around 1910, was originally the Kern City French Bakery. It was both a business and a home where the family also lived.
Pierre and Juanita Laxague purchased the bakery from Joe and Lea Gueydan in 1947 and renamed it Pyrenees French Bakery, after the mountain range that separates France and Spain — home to the Basque peoples.
Under the new ownership, employment would expand 10-fold.
Marianna Laxague, daughter of Pierre and Juanita, still operates Pyrenees.
"I was 7 when my parents bought the bakery. I'm still there!" she said.
In the meantime, Pyrenees has become a household name in Bakersfield, Kern County and beyond, where it is featured in restaurants, sold in supermarkets and served in countless homes.
The same sourdough starter has been used for 75 years.
"In 1961, Marianne's 21st birthday, they picked this building up and moved it to the museum," McCoy said Tuesday.
A storefront with a much larger bakery building behind it was constructed at 717 E. 21st St., and it is still there today.
"I'm glad the museum made the decision to finally change the building," Laxague said.
Not only does it honor her mother and father for the years of hard work they dedicated to the bakery, she said, it helps the community understand its beginnings.
"It's very important," she said. "We should remember how we got here."
Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
