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1950 Map of Taft

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Taft
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1986
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1986

About this map

The Naval Petroleum Reserve No 1 and Naval Petroleum Reserve No 2 dominate this industrial landscape in Kern County, highlighting the region's central role in mid-century energy production. The concentrated urban centers of Taft, Ford City, and Taft Heights are surrounded by a dense network of extraction infrastructure, including numerous oil tanks, oil sumps, and pipelines. The presence of specialized housing like Standard Oil Camp 11-C and Honolulu Oil Main Camp illustrates the company-town architecture common to California's oil fields.

Civic life is centered around the Taft Hi and Jr Col, Jefferson School, and Roosevelt Sch, while the outlying Dustin Acres and Valley Acres show residential expansion into the Buena Vista Valley. The survey records several significant landmarks such as the Standard Oil Tank Farm, Franklin Field, and the Taft-Kern Co Airport, providing a detailed look at the infrastructure supporting both the local population and the massive petroleum operations of the era.