On March 15, 1942, naturalist and hotel owner Emery M. Whilton opened the Florafaunium in Lebec, a unique museum showcasing one of the most complete collections of California plant and animal life ever assembled. One of the more unusual footnotes in local history, Whilton’s Florafaunium was a public-private museum that displayed hundreds of taxidermied animals and birds along with thousands ...

On January 29, 1932, a Century-Pacific Airlines passenger plane vanished in a violent winter storm over the mountains near Lebec, setting off a multi-day search. The aircraft, a 10-passenger Stinson trimotor piloted by veteran aviator Joseph Victor Sandblom, departed Bakersfield for Glendale at about 3:30 p.m. that Friday afternoon, carrying seven passengers. Battling blinding snow, fog, and gale-force winds over ...

Officials with Cal/OSHA have launched an investigation after a man died in an accident at a cement plant in Lebec earlier this month. On Jan. 6, Oswaldo Alejandro Rodas Hernandez, 50, from Jacksonville Florida, died in a work related accident at the National Cement Plant in the 33000 block of Highway 138 in Lebec, according to officials with the Kern ...

On November 13, 1968, Hotel Lebec, a grand getaway for California travellers, closed its doors for good. Once hailed as a glamorous mountain getaway, the legendary Hotel Lebec met its quiet end on this day in 1968. After decades of decline, the Kern County Health Department officially shut it down, citing a substandard water system and the building’s deteriorating condition. ...

A man wanted in connection with a Los Angeles murder investigation was arrested in Lebec Friday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). On September 12, 2025, at approximately 6:59 p.m., CHP Newhall Area units were alerted by the Los Angeles Police Department that a murder suspect could be in the area. Officers were provided with a vehicle description ...

Two Southern California men are expected to appear in federal court Tuesday after being arrested on a federal indictment charging them with allegedly breaking into a Brinks semi truck in Lebec and committing what is considered to be the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history. In jewels, $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches that were ...

An overnight brush fire in Lebec is 5% contained as of Thursday morning. As of Thursday morning, the brush fire, named the Fort Fire, was 220 acres in size with 5% containment, according to the Kern County Fire Department (KCFD). The Fort Fire was first reported at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday near Digier Canyon in Lebec, just north of historical ...

On March 15, 1942, Emery Whilton opened up a public-private museum and hotel in Lebec.  One of the weirder footnotes in local history is Emery M. Wilton’s short-lived Florafaunium, a public-private museum in Lebec. As the name implies, it housed a massive collection of stuffed animals and plants mostly native to California.  Whilton was born in Indiana in 1879, came ...

One person was killed in a Lebec crash that blocked all northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway for several hours early Friday morning. Around 6:20 a.m. Friday, California Highway Patrol (CHP) closed all lanes of the northbound 5 Freeway in response to a fatal crash near Lebec Road, around 30 miles north of Castaic. According to initial reports from CHP, ...

A Fresno man was sentenced to life in prison for a Lebec murder and the kidnapping of three children in 2016, officials said. Joshua Aaron Robertson, 29, entered an open no contest plea to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping, according to Ricardo Santiago, spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. He also admitted the ...