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1934 Map of Pentland

Name: 1934 Topographic Map of Pentland
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1934
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1934

About this map

Maricopa Flat serves as the industrial heart of this 1930s Kern County landscape, dominated by the infrastructure of the California oil boom. The terrain is defined by the convergence of the Sunset Railway and Maricopa Road State Highway No 57 at the settlement of Pentland. This area reveals a dense concentration of petroleum activity, including the Richfield Refining Plant No 1 and the General Petroleum Corporation Pentland Pumping Sta.

Further south, the land rises sharply away from the flat, leading into the steep drainage of Cienega canyon and Bitter Cr. These upland areas host specialized worker outposts like the General Petroleum Corp Essex Camp and the Associated Oil Co Western Mineral Camp. The mapping also highlights a significant geodetic junction where the Mt Diablo Base and Meridian meets the San Bernardino Base and Meridian, a critical point for California land surveying.