Manhole Covers of Lebec, Kern County, California
Created 10 February 2008
This page was last updated on 23 November 2008
This is a study of manhole covers of Lebec, a very small town in southern Kern County, California.
All photos copyrighted by David L. Magney 2008
Manhole Covers of Lebec, California
Lebec is an old cattle ranching town in southernmost Kern County located on Interstate 5. It has a population of about 1,285, of which 83.2% are White and 15.6% are Hispanic. The median family income of $42,468 and a per capita income of $17,564.
I have done some field work in the Lebec in the late 1980s and early 1990s, looking for rare plants and wildlife at the Lebec Landfill. Below are some photos of Lebec, which now is primarily a roadside services town serving I-5 travelers. The natural vegetation around Lebec consists of California Annual Grassland and Great Basin Sagebrush Scrub, dominated by Great Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, dominated by Singleleaf Pinyon Pine (Pinus monophylla). There are many wildflowers in this habitat during the late spring and summer. Lebec is home to a unique plant community, a valley dominated by Great Basin Sagebrush and Valley Oak (Quercus lobata), as seen in the second photograph. Lebec is located just north of the Tejon Pass, at about 4,000 feet above sea level. Lebec is the gateway to the Tejon Ranch. Lebec has only one type of manhole cover, for the phone company, since the town has no sewer system, nor does it have a flood control drainage system.
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