McFarland grew as a farm town, then Highway 99 split the map

McFarland’s story is a valley story with a road running right through it. The town was founded in 1909 and later incorporated in 1957. It grew during the Great Depression years, when many Central Valley towns were changing with farming, labor, roads, and new families looking for work.

Then Highway 99 became one of the city’s biggest facts on the ground. Built through the area in 1950, the highway divided McFarland into an east side and a west side. That kind of split matters in a small city. It can shape how people reach schools, shops, parks, churches, and neighbors.

McFarland is also known beyond Kern County because of its high-school running story, but the town’s deeper local pattern is practical: farm country, a compact city, a major valley highway, and people building community on both sides of it.

For a first look, notice how close everything sits to Highway 99. The road is part of how the city has had to organize itself for decades, beyond serving as a way to pass by McFarland.