Page 1 - nps1963pico

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For» 110-317 UNITED STATES
(Sept. 19S7)
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
NATIONAL SURVEY OF HISTORIC SITES AND BUILDINGS
I. STATE 2. THEME(S). IF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE. WRITE "ARCH" BEFORE THEME NO.
California XVII -b ~ Cogmaerce arid Industry
3. NAME(S) OF SITE 4. APPROX. ACREAGE
Pico Canyon, Well Ho, "CSO" k ("Pico" 850 Acres
5. EXACT LOCATION (County, township, roads, etc. If difficult to find, sketch on Supplementary Sheet) JjQQ County, 9.6 Mi.north of
San Fernando, via U,S.Bfcy.99 & to West of Hwy.^or 7 Ml of via Xyons Ave.
6. NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRESENT OWNER (Also administrator ifdifferent from owner)
Standard Oil Company of California,, San Francisco_____________________________
7. IMPORTANCE AND DESCRIPTION (Describe briefly what makes site important and what remains are extant)
The birth of California's oil industry occurred in Pi GO Canyon, which in the 70' s
early 8of s vas the principal oil region of California. Sphere the pioneers of the
industry received both training and substance, which enabled them to make California
the second oil producing state in the nation in the first tvo decades of the 2Oth
Century*

The successful completion of the Drake Oil Well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in
August, 1859, sent a -wave of excitment across the continent and from l86l to 1867
California experienced the first of its numerous oil "booms. Wildcatting vas carried
out in a dozen widely separated regions of the state. By 1867* when the boom finally
collapsed, 75 companies capitalized at about 50 million dollars, had drilled 60 veils
in California. At a cost of one million dollars they sxicceeded in producing some
28,000 barrels of oil worth about $60,000. When, in 1867, Eastern "coal oil" began
selling in San Francisco at less per gallon than the costs of refining and isarketing
of inferior kerosene made from the California fields, the Pacific Coast oil boom vas
over.

As a part of this early excitment, Southern Californians turned their attention to
the springs and seepages of Pico Canyon, fhe first claims vere filed in January 1865;
the San Fernando Petroleum Mining District vas formed under the mining lave in June,
1865, and by June 1866 nearly 300 individual claims covering an area, if combined, of
more than 7 square miles, had been entered on the books of the San Fernando district.
Although some oil exploration was done, this activity vas largely of a speculative
nature, ifp to 1873, Pico Canyon, consisting of a series of steep and rugged canyons
cutting into the northern slope of the Santa Susana Mountains, had been bright vith
promise but of little account othervise. The major efforts to find and produce oil
had been made in Humbolt County of Northern California.
______________________(Continued on next page)
8. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (Give best sources; give location of manuscripts and rare works) Robt »G.Cleland & OSgOOd Hardy HaTC
of Industry (los Angeles 1929), 169, 172-178; Frank J.Taylor & Earl M.Welty, Black
Bonanza tflev York 1950), 38-4i, 4$*&j James W.Caughey, California (Eaglevood Cliffs,
H.J. , 1957) ,^l8-4l9; California-A Guide to the Golden State tAmerican Guide Series)
(lev York 195^5,83,452) Oerald 0?.White, Formative Years in the Far West; A History of
Std.0il Co..of. California & Predecessors Throuf, Iglg t-tev York 1962), 2S8-58.
" - ~~~l J~irimcr
9. REPORTS AND STUDIES (Mention best repors a ; HJBS,
None

10. PHOTOGRAPHS* 11. CONDITION 12. PRESENT USE (Museum, farm, etc.) 13. DATE OF VISIT
ATTACHED: YESJ££ NO Q OriR. Structures Oil Field Apr. 19, 1961
14. NAME OF RECORDER (Signature)^ / I 15. TITLE 16. DATE
Charles W. Snell Cx^ v #^ )\/ ,5^*-* ^ C Beg. Chief , Branch Hist. Sites March 12^ 1963
*DRY MOUNT ON AN 8 X tO& SHEET OF FAIfJLY HEAVY PAPER. IDENTIFY BY VIEW AND NAME OF THE SITE. DATE OF PHOTOGRAPH. AND NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHER GIVE
LOCATION OF NEGATIVE. IF ATTACHED, ENCLOSE IN PROPER NEGATIVE ENVELOPES.
(IF ADDITIONAL SPACE IS NEEDED USE SUPPLEMENTARY SHEET, 10-3170, AND REFER TO ITEM NUMBER)
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16 74016-1