Orcutt Oil Field

Discovered in 1901 by William Warren Orcutt, it was the first giant field (over 100 million barrels (16,000,000 m3) in ultimate recovery) to be found in Santa Barbara County, and its development led to the boom town of Orcutt, now the major unincorporated southern suburb of Santa Maria.

With a cumulative production in 2008 of 870,000 barrels (138,000 m3) of oil, it is the largest onshore producing field in Santa Barbara County.

[4] Most of the active oilfield operations are invisible from the populated parts of the Santa Maria Valley, as the wells, tanks, and other facilities are behind the Graciosa Ridge, which rises to 1,346 feet (410 m) elevation at Mount Solomon, and the most active part of the field in 2009 was on the south slope of the range.

The region has a Mediterranean climate, with cool and rainy winters, and dry summers during which the heat is greatly diminished by fog and northwesterly winds from the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean, which is about 15 miles (24 km) west of the field.

Approximately 14 inches (36 cm) of rain falls in a typical winter, with the rainy season lasting from around November to April.

[6] Prospectors long suspected the presence of oil in the Santa Maria Valley and surrounding hills, but the late 19th-century attempts to find it were either shallow or misplaced.

In October 1901, their third well on the Careaga lease came in at 150 barrels per day (24 m3/d), beginning the field's long history.

In 1904 a drilling crew was transporting their equipment to a pre-determined location, but a road accident on the way upended the boiler they had been carrying.

By this year the boom town of Orcutt, built to house the oilfield workers, already had approximately 1,000 residents, along with saloons, hotels, and restaurants.

At its peak it included a post office, swimming pool, grocery store, and school house, in addition to over 900 residences.

The school house is the solitary remaining building, and is currently in use by Pacific Coast Energy Company (PCEC), who operates much of the field.