Map of Keene CDP, California

Keene (formerly, Wells) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California in the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains at the southern extreme of the San Joaquin Valley. Keene is located 8.5 miles (14 km) northwest of Tehachapi, at an elevation of 2,602 feet (793 m). The population was 469 at the 2020 census, up from 431 at the 2010 census.

The headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW), a national farmworkers organization organized and led by Cesar Chavez, is located in Keene, and is sometimes referred to as “Nuestra Señora Reina de La Paz” (“Our Lady Queen of Peace”).

Keene is located in the greater Tehachapi area.

Keene CDP overview:
Name:	Keene CDP
LSAD Code:	57
LSAD Description:	CDP (suffix)
State:	California
County:	Kern County
Elevation:	2,602 ft (793 m)
Total Area:	9.665 sq mi (25.034 km²)
Land Area:	9.660 sq mi (25.020 km²)
Water Area:	0.005 sq mi (0.014 km²) 0.056%
Total Population:	431
Population Density:	45/sq mi (17/km²)
ZIP code:	93531
Area code:	661
FIPS code:	0637946
GNISfeature ID:	1660828

Online Interactive Map

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Keene online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Keene location map. Where is Keene CDP?

Keene location on the U.S. Map. Where is Keene CDP. — Keene location on the U.S. Map.

Keene location on the California map. Where is Keene CDP. — Location of Keene in California.

History

The Keene post office opened in 1879, closed in 1881, and re-opened in 1885. Keene was founded in 1876 with the name Wells as a railroad town. The name Wells honored Madison P. Wells, a local rancher. The town was renamed Keene in honor of James P. Keene, a financier.

César Chávez

The UFW moved its national headquarters to Keene from Delano, California. César Chávez spent his last years in Keene. The walls of his United Farm Workers office in Keene were lined with hundreds of books ranging in subject from philosophy, economics, cooperatives, and unions, to biographies of Gandhi, the Kennedys, and Che Guevara. He is buried at 29700 Woodford Tehachapi Rd, Keene, CA 93531, on the campus of the UFW headquarters.

The National Chavez Center was opened on the UFW campus in 2004 by the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation. It currently consists of a visitor center, memorial garden and the grave site of the civil rights leader. When it is fully completed, the 187-acre (0.76 km) site will include a museum and conference center to explore and share Chávez’s work. A two-acre parcel of the site was designated as César E. Chávez National Monument on October 8, 2012.