Taft ~ Elevation 984
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 35° 09.203 W 119° 28.977
11S E 273826 N 3892875
This combination Elevation/Population sign is on California Highway 33 (West Side Highway) at the northwestern city limits of Taft.
Waymark Code: WMJ87W
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/09/2013
Views: 4
From Wikipedia:
Taft is situated in a major petroleum and natural gas production region in California and is one of the few remaining towns in the United States which exist exclusively because of nearby oil reserves. The discovery of oil in the region occurred in the late 19th century near Maricopa, seven miles (11 km) south of Taft. Many other oil and gas accumulations were discovered around Taft during the early-to-mid-20th century, notably the Midway field (near Fellows, California), Sunset field (later found to be part of the same trend, accounting for the modern combined name of Midway-Sunset), and the Buena Vista. The town is built directly between these two huge fields. The operational activities within these fields, as well as Occidental Petroleum's Elk Hills Oil Field north of Taft, have been the economic life blood of the town for over 100 years.