BlockBefore

Taft, California

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the West Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93268. The Survey maps it on the Taft quadrangle. 8,546 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 955 feet above sea level.

Taft within Kern County

Then and now

1910 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Taft, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Taft, surveyed 1910

On record in Taft

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Taft fell from 9,327 to 8,546 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20109,327
20208,546-781 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 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

398 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 398 fires within 5 miles of Taft between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,141 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 21 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/undetermined184
Power generation/transmission/distribution77
Equipment and vehicle use58
Misuse of fire by a minor31
Arson/incendiarism21
Natural13
Debris and open burning6
Smoking5
Fireworks1
Firearms and explosives use1
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
8 September 1999Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0617
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire DepartmentELK HILLS
7 September 1998Power generation/transmission/distribution15 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0546
6 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution10 acresCentral California DistrictHILL
6 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0314
4 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0788
4 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0651

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 Taft: 9 past producers, 3 producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Uranium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Fullers Earth. 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
Taft PitSilicaPast Producer
Elkhorn Pit and MillClayPast ProducerSedimentary
Elkhorn Pit and MillClayProducer
Excel MillFullers EarthProducer
Excel PitFullers EarthProducer
Fellows Quarry No. 2Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Taft QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Morton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Standard Oil Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Taft PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

9 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Taft in 9 storm reports between 1997 and 2019: 4 flood, 1 wildfire, 1 lightning, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2010FloodTaft$1,000,000Heavy rain caused widespread urban and poor drainage flooding on the morning of the 29th across much of the San Joaquin Valley. Especially hard hit were the metro areas of Fresno, Visalia, and Bakersfield, and the adjacent foothills.
July 2003LightningTaft$50,000Numerous power pole and grass fires were touched off by lightning strikes in the Southwest San Joaquin Valley from Taft northward to Fellows during the wee hours of the morning of the 30th. Over 8000 utility customers lost power during the thunderstorm/lightning episode in the Kern County area, including 4000 customers on the West Side of the South Valley.
January 2010FloodTaft$35,000CHP reported flooding of Herring Rd exit on Hwy 99 and flooding of Hwy 33 From Hwy 46 to Lerdo Hwy.
May 1998FloodTaft$20,000An evening deluge brought substantial sheet flow through the City of Taft resulting in basement flooding of one home and other minor flooding problems.
March 2015Heavy RainTaft$10,000Rainfall of 0.49 inches fell at the APRS station in Taft. The rain contributed to the development of a sinkhole that was 200 feet long, 1 to 2 feet wide, and 1 to 4 feet deep. Five homes were evacuated as a precaution, but no damage was reported to any buildings or utilities.
March 2019Debris FlowTaft-California Highway Patrol reported a large amount of water and mud across the roadway on Western Minerals Rd. near Hazelton.
June 2015Flash FloodTaft-Approximately 1.5 inches of rainfall fell over the cities of Taft and Maricopa in 30 minutes or so. This resulted in some flooding of an apartment complex in the city of Taft as well as a vehicles being stranded on flooded roadways. Also, SR 166 was closed around 7 PM due to flooding.
February 2007FloodTaft-Heavy rain occurred in the town of Taft, where 1.71 inches of rain was measured by both the Taft cooperative observer and a mesonet station near Tehachapi.
May 1997WildfireTaft-no account filed

Every storm 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
South Taft0.5 miles24
Ford City0.8 miles24
Taft Heights1.0 miles24
Wallace Center1.9 miles24
Spellacy2.2 miles23
Midoil3.7 miles23
Warren (historical)4.1 miles23
Valley Acres5.1 miles24

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 TaftAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q983611The 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 1661543. 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.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.