Garcés Memorial Circle
Garcés Memorial Circle, informally known as Garcés Circle or just The Circle, is a traffic circle in Bakersfield, California. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chester Avenue, Golden State Avenue and 30th Street. An overpass stands over the circle, allowing through traffic on Golden State Avenue to bypass it.
The traffic circle honors Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garcés, who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. A California Historical Landmark, it was approximately on this site where Garcés visited an Indian rancheria on May 7, 1776.
History
The Circle was originally built as a part of US 99 in approximately 1932. A large 1939 sculpture of Father Francisco Garcés by John Palo-Kangas rests inside the circle.At of inner diameter, the Garcés Memorial Traffic Circle is a smaller sibling of the similar inner-diameter 1930 Long Beach [Traffic Circle] located in Long Beach.