The Central Valley is filled with small towns that most people may only pass through on the highway. But while they may be small, many have a rich history, and even brief moments on the national stage. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots – the Kern County city of Maricopa, and the famous Lakeview Gusher.
Located in the far southwest corner of the San Joaquin Valley, Maricopa is nestled up against the Temblor Range, and is located where Highways 33 and 166 meet. It’s a popular route to the coast, and sits near the southern portion of the vast Midway-Sunset oil field.
According to historian Chris Brewer, Maricopa’s name came from the Maricopa Oil Company of Arizona, which laid out an exploration camp there in 1901. This oil town grew slowly until things changed on March 15th 1910. That’s when a Union Oil company rig struck a pressurized reservoir around 2,200 feet below the surface. The result was the Lakeview Gusher. It shot crude oil 200 feet in the air, flowing for some 17 months. Crews worked to contain the oil in earthen pools, to prevent it from flowing into the Buena Vista Lake. In all the gusher produced some 9 million barrels, and only half of that was recovered.
Today we’d consider it an environmental disaster. But in 1910, the spill was actually celebrated, and something of a tourist attraction. To this day, it is considered the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Maricopa incorporated as a city in 1911, and is considered the “mother city” of the Midway-Sunset, the largest known oilfield in California, and the third largest in the nation.
