BlockBefore

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.

Oil City within Kern County

Then and now

1906 to 1992

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Oil City, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Oil City, surveyed 1906

Compare 1906 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 34 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

642 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined398
Arson/incendiarism126
Equipment and vehicle use53
Misuse of fire by a minor36
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Smoking9
Debris and open burning7
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
9 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
9 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use2.5 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
C and H Materials CoGold, SilverPast Producer
China Grade FlatsGold, SilverPast Producer
Griffith Construction Co. PitSand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, SilverPast Producer
River Rock Co. PitSand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Round Mountain AreaGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Unnamed ProspectGypsum-AnhydriteProspect
Ebers and Heaps PropertyGoldProducer
Pasadena MineGoldProducer
Bluff Site PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Rivergrove1.3 miles34
Goodmanville1.6 miles34
Maltha2.0 miles34
La Cresta2.6 miles34
Bakersfield Country Club2.8 miles34
East Bakersfield2.9 miles34
Oildale3.2 miles33
Hillcrest3.2 miles34

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 CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14683544The 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.