Cesar Chavez’s Home Now Also A State Historic Landmark

United Farmer Workers leader César Chávez’s home and burial site — Nuestra Señora Reina de La Paz will become a state historic landmark under legislation signed October 8 by Gov. Jerry brown.

Located in Keene, about 30 miles southeast of Bakersfield, the 187-acre site was designated both a National Monument and a National Historic Landmark by President Obama exactly one year ago. 

The bill – AB 34 by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, a West Covina Democrat – also requires the state Office of Historic Preservation to identify other historical sites associated with the labor and civil rights movements or modern California history to add to California’s Register of Historical Resources.

“I thank the governor for his commitment in honoring one of California’s heroes. California should have been at the forefront of designating La Paz,” Hernandez said in a statement. “This designation as a state historic landmark is long over-due to this great civil rights leader, the state, and especially to his family.”

The farmworkers union moved its headquarters to Keene from Delano in 1971. Chavez died on April 23, 1993.

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