Oil Well Photography

The oil industry was part of the turn-of-the-last-century development of in Orange County. The first successful wells were drilled locally in the 1890s along the northern edge of the county. Oil was found in La Habra, Brea Canyon, Olinda, Placentia and Huntington Beach.

This is one of the oil wells still pumping. It's in Huntington Beach and was placed there in 1920.