Thanks to the generosity of Cynthia Lake, a local philanthropist, Merle Haggard’s childhood home will be moved, restored and preserved for posterity.
In 2013, Kearns County Museum began looking for a way to add the country songwriter’s old home to its vintage building collection. Since then, Citizens Preserving History, which runs the county museum has been holding fundraiser to acquire a minimum of $50,000 to move and restore the circa-1935 former home.
The money raised, combined with Lake’s donation of $50,150, has enabled the foundation to go ahead and set a tentative date for moving the Haggard family home.
When Haggard’s family moved to Oildale in the 1930s, his father converted a railroad boxcar which the family use as a home. Assuming the new foundation is finished, and the weather cooperates, the original boxcar will be moved from Oildale to Bakersfield on July 29, with the singer/songwriter following in his new tour bus.
The additions to the boxcar have already been dismantled, and the parts have been numbered and transported to the county museum. Once the boxcar is on its new foundation, the rest of the home will be reassembled. Lillian Haggard Rea, Merle’s sister, will serve as a consultation for the home’s restoration.
A deadline of December has been set for the finished restoration, at which a point postcard printing service will likely be engaged to capture the finished product for museum patrons to take home.
