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Most people aren’t surprised to hear that Los Angeles is one of the top oil-consuming areas in the country. But fewer people realize that it’s also among the nation’s top oil-producing areas, as well. Back in the old days — when Edward Doheny struck oil near downtown LA in 1892 and Shell Oil discovered an enormous oil field beneath Signal Hill in the 20s — parts of the city were literally forested with hundreds upon hundreds of oil derricks. In 1923, California produced a whopping 1/4th of the world’s oil supply, and little Signal Hill was the state’s most productive area. While many of those wells were torn down long ago, there are still productive oil fields beneath Los Angeles today — and thousands of wells across LA County — though the industry by which it is extracted is much more invisible than it once was. But if you go looking for it — as I did — you’ll find it’s still here, standing in strange juxtaposition to the palm-lined avenues and sunny beaches typically associated with LA. Read on to see what I found. (Click on the pictures for larger versions.)
The city’s most famous park is a toxic lake of petroleum seepage — better known as the La Brea Tar Pits. Here it is in 1910; note the oil derricks in the background.
Here are the pits today. I love these sculptures of an ancient family of mastodons in the midst of tragedy.
Nearby, asphalt from the pits seeps up through the sidewalk.
Leave it to LA hoodlums to use whatever’s at hand to write graffiti — in this case, oily goo from the tar pits.
Just down the road in Beverly Hills — on the campus of Beverly Hills High School, no less, whose alumni include Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie — towers an enormous oil derrick, visible from blocks away. It was painted by a local art organization in the mid-90s, with help, ironically, from a group of kids suffering from cancer. A decade later, Erin Brokovich herself sued the oil company that operated it on behalf of hundreds of former students claiming that exposure to fumes and chemicals from the well gave them cancer. (Their claims were ultimately dismissed in court.) Here’s the well from a distance, down Olympic Boulevard.
The well still produces 400-500 barrels of oil a day, earning the high school about $300,000 a year in royalties.
South of Beverly Hills and Hollywood, there are hundreds of oil wells dotting the hills around Kenneth Hahn State Park. I lived in LA for nearly three years before I ever drove by them — thanks to a cabbie who promised he knew a “secret back way” to LAX airport. Needless to say, there are plenty of Angelenos who don’t even know they’re here.
The wells are all fenced off with barbed wire and signs announcing “danger!” and “no trespassing!” and “hazardous chemicals!” It’s a view I wouldn’t want from my front door:
If you live in Signal Hill, still further south, a view of pumping oil wells is something you can never escape — even when you’re dead.
The descendants of some people buried in Sunnyside Cemetery have received royalty checks for oil slant-drilled from beneath family grave plots.
Not far from the cemetery, some industrious businessperson has turned an old derrick into a liquor store.
There’s also a Starbucks-adjacent oil well in Signal Hill, which was pumping merrily away when I visited. People walking by didn’t give it a second glance.
Across the street, in the parking lot of a sandwich joint:
Off the coast of Long Beach — I wish I had pictures of this — are four man-made “islands” built in the 1960s to disguise hundreds of offshore oil wells. There’s also a fake 14-story building along Pico Boulevard, behind the facade of which pumps a huge oil derrick. Here’s a satellite photo of the building from above:
If that’s not some strange geography, I don’t know what is.
Other Strange Geographies:
The Salton Sea
Salvation Mountain
East LA’s Abandoned Hospital
San Diego’s Fake Iraqi Village
Comments (20)
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this is really interesting, ive never visited LA but when i do it is something I will be looking out for
posted by dre on 8-11-2009 at 8:05 am
When you grow up around these (also called pumping units or “pump jacks”), you barely notice them any more, or if anything, the sight of them evokes a feeling of nostalgia. Having grown up in Arkansas and Oklahoma, I see one of these in an unlikely place, and I think, “Ahhh, childhood!”
posted by Erin on 8-11-2009 at 8:20 am
I never thought about that on my trip to LA, but it definitely makes sense. I, now knowing, regret looking for at least one.
posted by Steven on 8-11-2009 at 9:10 am
If I ever go to LA, I will definitely look out for these.
FYI, I think you can see the islands on Google Maps satellite view.
posted by Patti on 8-11-2009 at 9:36 am
I’m of the same mind as Erin. The pictures of the pump jacks made me think fondly of growing up in the Texas Panhandle. It’s strange seeing oil wells in a more urban setting, though, as I’m used to seeing them in the middle of fields of grass.
reCaptcha: Transportation badgers
Definitely a cool name for pumps.
posted by nutmeag on 8-11-2009 at 9:53 am
Interesting fact…”Brea” in Spanish means “Tar”, so “The La Brea Tar Pits” translates to “The The Tar Tar Pits.”…oh those crazy californians!
posted by andy on 8-11-2009 at 10:14 am
For many years, I lived in Long Beach/Signal Hill. Thanks for the photos of home!
posted by loripop on 8-11-2009 at 10:36 am
My parents live borderline Compton and these suckers are everywhere. I remember when we would drive home from school and we’d pass the big ass 76 oil factory and we would chant 76 ball over and over…
Kids are dumb.
But pipelines run under the house and they have to get permission to dig.
(Yea Right…)
posted by Chrystani on 8-11-2009 at 10:48 am
Another great post – I love this theme, keep them coming!
Though this once again proves my theory that there is very little in this world that can’t be related back to a Simpsons episode. First, we have the Tar Pits, which harkens back to the episode where Bart wins an elephant on the radio. Then, we have the oil well on the property of a school, which reminds me of the “Burns Slant-Drilling Co.” episode.
Makes you wonder if the writers were from LA.
posted by Bert on 8-11-2009 at 11:35 am
This is the first time I’ve seen an article on L.A.’s oil fields. I’m a Landman in Bakersfield and I love pointing out all the rigs and pump jacks to my family. There is sooo much oil here.
Also being a landman is really awesome job someone should do an article on it. It’s an unusual and almost never heard of profession. http://www.landmanconnection.com
posted by Downchez on 8-11-2009 at 11:43 am
Sure enough, if you look at Google maps, you will see the 4 man-made islands in San Pedro Bay. Very neat-o!
posted by steve on 8-11-2009 at 1:31 pm
Didn’t Randy Newman write a song about this Oil of L A?\n
great post!
posted by Devin Greaney on 8-11-2009 at 1:49 pm
I had a friend that was working on a picture book he called Stairs to Nowhere. He had taken several photos of staircases that either were still standing after the house they were part of had collapsed or stairs that were boarded up for some reason or another. He tried to find out the stories behind the stairs as well. That might be an interesting topic for you. I don’t think he ever finished the book or at least found a publisher. I wrote a poem for the introduction though, but didn’t keep a copy dang it.
posted by Brian on 8-11-2009 at 3:12 pm
To enjoy the real beauty of the off shore Long Beach oil islands you need to see them at night. They are lit in bright colors and have a 60’s mod look. You can find pictures on Flickr and google.
posted by Jeff Duke on 8-11-2009 at 4:08 pm
My mother went to Montebello high school, the Montebello oilers. You find oil derricks all over if ur looking for them, like in the beautiful Brea canyon in north orange county.
posted by shell on 8-11-2009 at 5:11 pm
Three of these man-made oil drilling islands are named Grissom, White and Chaffee in honor of the three astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 fire. A fourth island is named for Theodore Freeman, an Air Force test pilot chosen as an astronaut in 1963 but who was killed while piloting a T-38 jet when it crashed at Ellington AFB. These islands are beautiful at night, and local legend has it people have mistaken them for off-shore hotels.
posted by John on 8-11-2009 at 6:49 pm
Great photos and a fascinating topic.
Incidentally, Oil in LA be also be the subject of an exhibition at The Center for Land Use Interpretation opening in the middle of September.
posted by Ben Loescher on 8-11-2009 at 8:44 pm
The Beverly Center is also above a well – the building was built in that funny shape to accommodate the drilling.
posted by Catherine on 8-11-2009 at 10:10 pm
I would suggest you read Oil! By Upton Sinclair.
Actually about Oil in LA during the 1910-1920s.
posted by Bettie on 8-25-2009 at 11:29 am
Neat! What a great article on LA. I’ve seen these oil rigs on the way to LAX, but didn’t know that they were producing this much oil. Thanks for the info.
posted by Chellis on 8-25-2009 at 12:14 pm