West Kern Oil Museum

As you might expect in a town located in the center of an oil area, they have an oil museum . . . the "West Kern Oil Museum". Of course, I had to check it out. Taft is located in Kern County, on the West side of the county, hence the "West Kern" title.



They had a number of buildings displaying all kinds of equipment used in the oil fields plus numerous displays of the history of oil exploration and development in the area.

One of the most interesting stories is that on March 15, 1910, at a depth of 2,225 feet, a well called Lakeview #1 blew in. Flowing at a rate of 18,000 barrels a day, it demolished the derrick, engine house and bunkhouses. Men worked around the clock building sandbag dikes while scrappers dug huge sumps to try to contain the oil so it would not flow into a large lake several miles away.

At it's peak, the flow reached 90,000 barrels a day and flowed uncontrolled for 544 days. This well produced 9 million barrels of oil, a record not yet matched by any other well in California.

Can you imagine what the environmentalists would do if this were to happen today?





In addition to the buildings with numerous exhibits and displays, there were many outdoor displays. They had a replica wooden derrick constructed on the property of the type which used to be used. Today, of course, the derricks are made of steel. But this historic wooden derrick was much larger and taller than I had thought they would be.


The outdoor displays included an old pumping system on the left below to pump oil to the refinery and an old wooden well pump structure on the right below.
















Of course, trucks were used extensively in the oil fields. Many old trucks were on display, both inside the buildings and in the outdoor exhibits.


Kern County in Southern California produces nearly 60% of all the oil produced in California. The oil field around Taft, called the Midway Basin, produces 20% of all of the oil in California.

This museum was quite large and well arranged . . . quite an accomplishment for the small town of Taft. It was very interesting and educational. I strongly recommend a visit to the "West Kern Oil Museum" if you are in the area.