Oil extraction is still big business in the Southland, but today locating signs of the industry can require a careful eye. Wells hide in plain sight as office buildings or masquerade offshore as tropical islands. In the back of the Beverly Center shopping mall, one quietly sips from the earth behind a nondescript wall.

But the wells were not always so clandestine.

Summerland oil wells on the Pacific coast, ca.1901-1903 Details Share Save Feedback Request
Summerland oil wells on the Pacific coast, ca.1901-1903 Details Share Save Feedback Request - Photograph of dozens of oil derricks rising out of the coastal Pacific Ocean at Summerland, Santa Barbara County, California, as viewed from the south. Several long wharves support the pipelines leading from each well. A few small buildings are visible on the palisades at right. Back of photoprint reads, "Oil streaks were noted by Spanish explorers and are natural leaks. Reference toJames Curvier". Copyright 1903.