About Wasco, California

Wasco is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California with a population of 25,545 at the 2010 census. It is the headquarters of the Tejon Indian Tribe of California, a federally recognized tribe of Kitanemuk, Yokuts, and Chumash indigenous people of California.

The town of Wasco was originally named “Dewey” and then “Deweyville.” When William Bonham, a settler from Wasco County in Oregon, determined there was a town already named “Deweyville”, he proposed the area be renamed “Wasco”, and in 1900, the Post Office recorded the town name of Wasco.

Fresh vegetables, meat, ice, and fuel wood was initially imported from locations including Pond, Delano, Hanford, and the mountain areas. Water was a primary concern, and subsequently caused the development of the Fourth Extension Water Company – an organization established to supply water for domestic and irrigation purposes. Agriculture has always been Wasco’s primary economic base. In 1916, long white potatoes, destined to be the root of Wasco’s economy, were planted.