California is a ghost town in northern Wirt County, West Virginia.

[1][2][3] California is notable as a point where shallow deposits of petroleum naturally percolated to the Earth's surface, a phenomenon common in the area, which spurred settlement at nearby Petroleum in Ritchie County, and Burning Springs, about fifteen miles south of California in Wirt County.

[3] Oil from the California area was being collected and used as a commercial lubricant as early as the 1820s.

[3][4][5][6] After the Civil War, the development of more productive oil fields led to the gradual abandonment of oil production at small wells such as those at California, Petroleum, and Burning Springs.

[8] Today, a historical display including a replica oil derrick stands along route 47 just west of California House Road.