Taft (formerly Moron, Moro, and Siding Number Two)[9] is a city in the foothills at the extreme southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California.

[9] According to a display at the West Kern Oil Museum, local residents asked the Southern Pacific Railroad if the station could be named Moro when the rails arrived in about 1900, but a railroad official declined because the name would be too easily confused with the coastal town of Morro Bay.

Instead, the railroad directed the station be called Moron, a word which as yet had no association with lack of intelligence (cf.

[11][12] Taft is situated in a major petroleum and natural gas production region in California and is one of the few remaining towns in the United States which exist exclusively because of nearby oil reserves.

The discovery of oil in the region occurred in the late 19th century near Maricopa, seven miles (11.27 km) south of Taft.

[13] The super-giant Midway-Sunset field has produced nearly 4,000,000,000 barrels (640,000,000 m3) of crude oil, most of it heavy gravity (13-14 degrees API).

The reservoirs of the Midway-Sunset field are composited layers of mostly unconsolidated sandstones of late Miocene age, shallowly buried.

The shallow burial depth and ideal nature of the sandstones make them almost perfectly suited for steam injection.

The infrastructure to run a large oil and gas company included: a rail spur from the line running through Taft, steel and timber for derrick construction and maintenance, pipe, valves, numerous offices, an expansive and highly specialized machine shop, supply shops, the car and truck fleet on one side of the Main Street; bunkhouses for workers, and fourteen blocks on four streets of company homes for employees on the other side.

In the mid-1990s, according to California's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), there were 68 operating companies working the Midway-Sunset field alone.

While the names of most of these companies have changed, due to mergers, acquisitions, and liquidations, the production activities have been continuous.

In the early days of oil exploration and production, long before the advent of modern blowout preventions, gushers were the norm.

The well and its State historical marker can be found along the Petroleum Club road, just off SR 33 south of town.

The West Kern Oil Museum, at 1168 Wood Street, has vast holdings, including pumps, fire apparatus, trucks, a historic wooden derrick, photos, models, and extensive displays of local history back to Indian times.

The city owns a 46-acre former BNSF railroad property (19 ha) in the center of town which features the West Kern Oilworker's Monument, a 37 feet (11 m) tall bronze sculpture that features several human figures displayed on an oil derrick by artist Benjamin Victor that was paid for with donations from local residents, visitors and several oil companies.

[17] The railroad property is part of a redevelopment project that the city is using to attract new businesses, housing and commercial office space.

Taft has a desert climate (Köppen BWh),[18] with long, hot, dry summers, and brief, cool, moist winters.

Oildorado is a week long celebration honoring the history of Taft as a place of oil production and exploration.

Additionally, there is a beauty pageant where an Oildorado Queen is selected, a facial hair growing contest, talent shows, barbecues, street fairs, parades, and in 2005, motocross races.

If a man does not grow facial hair, he must pay for a permit and wear a bolo tie or lapel pin called a Smooth Puss Badge.

If he is caught clean-shaven without his badge, he may be arrested by the Posse, a group of men dressed in western garb, sporting pistols and rifles filled with blanks and, of course, facial hair.

The group patrols the streets, schools, and businesses and engages in make-believe shootouts with the Bandits (the Wooden Nickel Gang), who customarily wear bandanna masks on their faces.

Other staples of this week-long celebration include wooden nickels, dinner theatres, classic car shows, and rodeos.

Taft is the nearest town of any size to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, which is located about an hour west.

Note that the shortest route (per Google Maps) has dirt sections and isn't recommended for standard passenger cars.