topic Re: California At One Time. in Among Friends

California At One Time.

Foxxee — Wed, 17 May 2023 21:21:49 GMT

California was not always all about Hollywood, the bliss and glamour of being a superstar, and walking the red carpet on Academy Award night. In fact, it was a bleak contrast of what was once a state heavily fed on oil.

Oil! Oil! Oil! It was truly “black gold” that moved the nation’s Golden State into the future of the 20th century.

The sight of myriads of oil towers installed on familiar venues such as Downtown Los Angeles, Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, or Santa Fe, was overwhelming. Dark. Gloomy.

By 1895, the state of California, alone, produced 1.2 million barrels of oil. With the new oil supplies from California—along with increased oil production in Texas and Pennsylvania—the price decreased from $9.60 per barrel in 1860 to $0.25 per barrel in 1895.

Huntington Beach, circa 1930s.

At the turn of the century, oil production in California continued to rise at a booming rate. In 1900, the state of California produced 4 million barrels. In 1920, production had expanded to 77 million barrels.

Between 1920 and 1930, new oil fields across Southern California were being discovered with regularity including Huntington Beach in 1920, Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs in 1921, and Dominguez in 1923, and Inglewood in 1924. Southern California had become the hotbed for oil production in the United States.

The oil boom caused whole areas to become home to hundreds of wooden drilling derricks owned by independent speculators. With the oil derricks sticking up like giant quills, neighborhoods started to look gloomy.

In places such as Venice, California (now known as Marina del Rey), oil derricks ran right up to the shore, mingling with residential neighborhoods and pristine beaches.

In Huntington Beach and in Santa Barbara, legions of derricks lined the coast, vying for space with sunbathers and lifeguard stands. While today these violent protrusions are at odds with the Southland’s idyllic, fun-in-the-sun image, but at the time L.A. was still in its infancy, and the metastasizing cityscape was preoccupied with growth, not beauty.

This is how Los Angeles Times described the Venice Beach–Del Rey oil field in 1930: Today oil derricks stand like trees in a forest… . Steam pile drivers roar on many a vacant lot… . One hundred and eighty permits to drill for oil have been given and twenty-five more are in procedure… . If this fever continues, as it gives every indication of doing, one reasonably may expect to see virtually the entire water-front line of private properties from Washington street to Sixty-sixth avenue or Playa del Rey dotted with a line of oil derricks.

An oilfield in Venice, California. 1930.

A forest of oil derricks sprouts up on the Signal Hill oil field, Long Beach, California, in 1937.

Long Beach, 1937

Long Beach 1951

Venice, CA

Source: RareHistoricalPhotos,com.

Long Beach Today

Venice CA today

Re: California At One Time.

mspatmac — Wed, 17 May 2023 21:32:45 GMT

Facinating pictorial @Foxxee Thanks for taking the time to put it together and posting.

Re: California At One Time.

rockygems123 — Wed, 17 May 2023 21:46:14 GMT

Wow @Foxxee even though a native San Franciscan had NO idea these ever existed!

Thank you for posting

Re: California At One Time.

AZfem — Wed, 17 May 2023 21:54:19 GMT

Wow! This is interesting. Never knew this.

Re: California At One Time.

just bee — Wed, 17 May 2023 22:03:20 GMT

Southern California's oil boom was the premise of the film There Will Be Blood.

The performance of Daniel Day-Lewis in the film should be a course for all aspiring actors.

Re: California At One Time.

Kachina624 — Wed, 17 May 2023 22:11:15 GMT

I bet the water near those wells was a mess. We ran into some crude oil once off the beach in Corpus Christi and had to use pure acetone to get it off skin, although it left a dark stain. Bathing suits were ruined.

We didn't know if it came from an offshore oil rig or a leak in a passing ship but the beach should have been closed.

Oil seems to get into the water if there's a well anywhere in the vicinity.

Re: California At One Time.

We rescue cats — Wed, 17 May 2023 23:47:07 GMT

I had no idea....

Re: California At One Time.

MJDinVegas — Thu, 18 May 2023 02:03:49 GMT

Hi, @Foxxee ! I lived in Huntington Beach from 1989-2006 and while the number of wells/pumps has decreased, there are still areas of them not far from housing. There are a number of big platforms off the coast that are used as landmarks for aircraft landing at Long Beach, Orange County and perhaps LAX depending on where they are coming from.

Re: California At One Time.

Mz iMac — Thu, 18 May 2023 02:06:52 GMT

@Foxxee Very interesting. Never knew that. Thank you for posting it.

Did the article mention if any of the oil derricks on private land made the land owners filthy rich?

Re: California At One Time.

Foxxee — Thu, 18 May 2023 02:29:45 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
@Foxxee Very interesting. Never knew that. Thank you for posting it.

Did the article mention if any of the oil derricks on private land made the land owners filthy rich?

@Mz iMac

Didn't see that anywhere, but it sure looks like it did.

Re: California At One Time.

bikerbabe — Thu, 18 May 2023 02:39:57 GMT

@Mz iMac

Oh, yeah. A LOT of money.

Re: California At One Time.

Queen of shop — Thu, 18 May 2023 03:03:08 GMT

@Foxxee WOW! I had no idea about this. Thank you so much for the education. I love to learn new things.

Re: California At One Time.

ECBG — Thu, 18 May 2023 11:57:30 GMT

Amazing thread! Thank you!

Re: California At One Time.

Enufstuff — Fri, 19 May 2023 01:44:49 GMT

@Foxxee

I never knew about oil in California. Great pictures that you posted.

Re: California At One Time.

Lucky Charm — Fri, 19 May 2023 02:26:15 GMT

There are homes in s. ca beach towns that have small derricks pumping away in the yards. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Re: California At One Time.

Love to Run — Fri, 19 May 2023 11:57:14 GMT

As a native Californian I hated some beaches like Santa Monica because of the tar on the beach. I also remember the occasional oil rig driving through certain areas.

Re: California At One Time.

CANDLEQUEEN — Fri, 19 May 2023 14:03:14 GMT

Amazing! Never knew this. Thanks for sharing!

Re: California At One Time.

bikerbabe — Fri, 19 May 2023 14:09:31 GMT

Funny, living in SoCA most of my life I took it for granted that people know that a lot of wealth was generated in CA from oil refining, and it’s still around today. I used to work in an industry that sold chemicals to the refineries in the South Bay (Chevron, ARCO etc).

Re: California At One Time.

mousiegirl — Sun, 21 May 2023 20:15:40 GMT

@Foxxee My SIL lives in Venice, and I don't recall ever seeing a water canal, maybe they were dry at the time. I never knew about the oil fields in LA. Her Mom, DH's Mother, moved from Marina del Ray to Venice to be near her daughter.

Re: California At One Time.

just bee — Sun, 21 May 2023 20:23:43 GMT

@bikerbabe wrote:
Funny, living in SoCA most of my life I took it for granted that people know that a lot of wealth was generated in CA from oil refining, and it’s still around today. I used to work in an industry that sold chemicals to the refineries in the South Bay (Chevron, ARCO etc).

@bikerbabe

Wow. I haven't thought about ARCO in ages...