1936 Map of Antelope Plain

About this map

The Lost Hills rise sharply from the western floor of the San Joaquin Valley in this 1932 topographic study, revealing the complex geological folds of the southern California oil country. The landscape is defined by the stark transition from the flat Antelope Plain to the ridgelines that characterize this petroleum-producing region. Surveyed by S.C. Kain and represented by the Director of Public Works, the map documents an industrial frontier where a lone Well serves as a primary landmark in an otherwise arid expanse. The detailed five-foot contour intervals highlight the subtle drainage patterns and structural elevations that guided early 20th-century oil exploration and land development long before the modern infrastructure of Kern County was fully established.