Oil City, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Bakersfield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93308. It lies near Sacramento Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Oil Center quadrangle. It stands 449 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1906 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 86 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1906 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 34 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1906 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1914 USGS Caliente quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1933 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:31680
- 1940 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:24000
- 1978 USGS Tehachapi quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Oil Center quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
642 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 642 fires within 5 miles of Oil City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 21,447 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 126 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 398 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 126 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 53 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 36 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Smoking | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 9 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 9 September 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.5 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 9 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 7 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2009 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 14 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Oil City: 9 past producers, 3 producers, 1 prospect, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C and H Materials Co | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| China Grade Flats | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Griffith Construction Co. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| River Rock Co. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Round Mountain Area | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Prospect | ||
| Ebers and Heaps Property | Gold | Producer | ||
| Pasadena Mine | Gold | Producer | ||
| Bluff Site Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rivergrove | 1.3 miles | 34 | |
| Goodmanville | 1.6 miles | 34 | |
| Maltha | 2.0 miles | 34 | |
| La Cresta | 2.6 miles | 34 | |
| Bakersfield Country Club | 2.8 miles | 34 | |
| East Bakersfield | 2.9 miles | 34 | |
| Oildale | 3.2 miles | 33 | |
| Hillcrest | 3.2 miles | 34 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Oil City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14683544 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661135. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.














