The “Black Gold” Rush: Exploring California's Oil Heritage

Abstract

California has a long association with the oil industry. Industrial-scale production began in the mid-19th century, and by the early 20th century the state was the largest producer of oil in the United States. Demand and production of oil coincided with the influx of population to the state during and after the Gold Rush. Reflecting its importance to the state’s history, the story of the early California oilfields has been dramatized in movies such as 2007’s There Will Be Blood. Today, California remains among the top producers of oil in the U.S.; a status that stands in sometimes sharp contradiction with the state government’s move away from fossil fuel production and use. The Central Valley city of Taft embodies this complicated interplay of culture, economics, and politics. Located amidst several lucrative oil fields, the city developed along with industry, which continues to serve as a source of investment, employment, and pride. The latter is embodied by, among other things, an oil museum, a large bronze monument dedicated to oil workers, and a citywide “Oildorado” festival held every five years. This paper uses a mixed-method approach combining discourse analysis of interpretation at the West Kern Oil Museum and other oil-related heritage sites in the city, interviews with key stakeholders, consideration of visitor perceptions, and field observations. It considers both the distinctive role of oil in Taft’s sense of place and wider implications for understanding the influences of politics, identity, and scale on the perceived importance of the industrial past and present.