west kern oil museum

WEST KERN OIL MUSEUM is an overlooked feature, located just off the endless drive from Los Angeles to the San Fransisco Bay area (or on the drive to Sacramento). For those interested in California history, or in geology, this museum should be near the top of your "must visit" list. The grounds of the West Kern Oil Museum, featuring a tall oil derrick, can be seen in my two photographs, which accompany this write-up.The west side of Kern County has three oil fields, Midway Sunset Field, Elk Hill Field, and South Belridge Field. The West Kern Oil Museum is located over the Midway Sunset Field. This oil field has an area of about 30 square miles. The Midway Sunset Field was discovered in 1894, produced the largest gusher in U.S. history (gushing in the year 1910), and as of the year 2008, this oil field contained 18% of California's total oil. The museum takes the form of a small building with a tiny gift shop, and a large open lot with equipment of various kinds. The equipment includes an oil derrick, cable tools, pumps, wagons, and old trucks. Although none of equipment on the grounds of the museum is being used for processing oil, the countryside that surrounds the City of Taft has plenty of oil wells that are actively being pumped. Lending to the authentic flavor of Taft, is the faint sulfurous odor that comes from the oil wells. One advantage of the museum, is that the avid tourist or photographer does not have to worry about being chased away. Being chased away is a risk of approaching oil wells that are in active use -- those residents of Orange County will know that some neighborhoods have oil wells that are being actively pumped, thereby providing the opportunity to view and admire the pumps at close range. MOVIE DISCLOSING ELEMENTS OF THE OIL HISTORY OF TAFT, CA. Further regarding the oil wells in Taft, it should be noted that a movie, BEST OF TIMES (1986), starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell, features many scenes from City of Taft and of the surrounding oil fields. BEST OF TIMES is a charming comedy. This film begins with an intriguing documentary about the oil industry in Taft, CA.CONCLUSION. To conclude, for travelers with a longfelt need to view ancient industrial equipment at close range, I also recommend the two exhibits of borax mining equipment found in Death Valley, another exhibit of borax mining equipment found at the Twenty Mule Team Museum in Boron, CA, just off Highway 58, and in village of Elsie, Oregon, the huge display of ancient logging equipment at "Camp 28 Restaurant" on Route 26.

We kind of stubled upon this museum. One of the locals in Maricopa told us about it. Glad we stopped to visit. Lots of interesting info and displays about the local oil mining industry. Historical buidings filled with items from the past. Our tour guide was very informative and friendly. Worth the time to stop in and check it out. Spent more time than we planned on there, and loved it!

This is a fabulous museum if you are interested at all in Taft, the American oil industry or small town life in California. The volunteers are very helpful with plenty of stories, and there is much more to look at than I imagined...not just a plethora of old oil drilling vehicles and equipment, but a large garage full of vintage vehicles, a restored office and a restored "shotgun shack", and then the museum, which covers all aspects of early 20th century life. There is also a large assortment of California native plants on the 8 acre site. And it's free, although donations are welcome and there's a nicely stocked gift store.

We were traveling North from Maricopa and as we were entering Taft we saw a sign for the West Kern Oil Museum so we decided to stop in. It is much larger than we expected and a very comprehensive exhibit of all aspects of the oil industry on the West side of the San Joaquin Valley. We spent close to an hour there but you should probably plan on double that amount of time to really experience all they have on exhibit.

This museum outside of Bakersfield in Taft, Ca. is really fascinating despite it not being on many people's itinerary. The area is the location of one of the largest oil fields in the US which is why my husband's family originally moved there in the early 1920s. Between descriptions of life in the Central Valley (before air conditioning and quite a few other modern conveniences) which touched on my father-in-law's life and details of the development of the resources, it covers quite a lot. We spent 3 hours looking at the oil equipment displayed on the grounds, the inside displays and talking with the volunteer guides. It's definitely worth visiting, but do check online for the hours since I don't believe that the volunteers are there every day.

This all-volunteer museum covers several acres and includes historical derricks, vehicles, equipment, offices, and homes from early oilfield days. There is also a main building with wonderful local history displays, including some from the nearby brea pit where many of the fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles were found, and from the days of the Yokuts Indians. The grounds are a lovely venue for a picnic.

I was looking for something to breakup the drive from Fresno to Oxnard for a Father/Son trip with my dad (he doesn't have the best back). This was one of 3 activities in Taft, and it was a good one. Being an engineer there was technical knowledge I'd always wanted to know, offset by cultural info and personal stories told by those who have lived oil all their lives. The exhibits were informative and thought provoking, and the grounds were covered with equipment of old from the oil business. Working for Caterpillar (knowing they are a major player in oilfield auxiliary power) I was curious if they had any old equipment. Upon asking if they had any Caterpillar engines, the desk clerk didn't know, but happily offered to call someone who would know. We found out there was an old Cat dozer in one of the buildings that was locked.She gladly handed us the keys to the building and shows where to go. Made my trip how they went out of there way to be so helpful.We happened to be touring while they had Taft's 1948-50 class reunion in town, so it was great to see so many aged people enjoying there history. We even saw some younger groups entering as we left after a few hours break from the drive. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MUSEUM!No fee to enter, but museum runs on donations.

We took our two grandsons, ages 8 & 5, to the Museum. They love to see the oil wells around Bakersfield and we thought the Oil Museum would be an informative outing for them. Unfortunately, we went on a Thursday and there didn't seem to be anyone at the museum that could give us any information about the oil fields. We asked to see a video and we were shown a home made film about life in Taft in the 1940' s. There were a lot of interesting displays in the museum about life in Taft during the years of oil expoloration but they required a lot of reading and did not hold the interest of two young boys. The high light of the trip was an oil pump on the museum grounds that the boys were able to activate and see how oil is actually pumped.

These guys survive on donations and not entrance fees. It covers every aspect of life in Taft during the oil boom days. Lots of floor space here. Nice exhibits and very informative. We did not have enought time to see it all and we plan to go back. Motels are inexpensive her. do a weekend trip to the area.