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1954 Map of Oil Center

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Oil Center
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

The Kern River Oil Field dominates this mid-century landscape, where a dense network of oil tanks and pipelines stretches across the arid bluffs north of Bakersfield. This industrial concentration is mirrored by the development of specialized company settlements like Oil Center and Oil City, which grew to support the extraction economy along the Kern River. Infrastructure is critical here, evidenced by the Southern Pacific railroad lines reaching into the fields at Volcan and Treadwell.

South of the river, the transition into residential and civic life is marked by several neighborhood schools, including Garces High Sch and Jefferson School, alongside the Bakersfield Country Club. The historical memory of the river crossing is preserved at the Gordons Ferry (Site), while the river's management is shown through complex irrigation works like the Beardsley Canal and China Grade Canal.