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OIL DISTRICTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 
OIL FIELDS. 
LOCATION. 
The oil-bearing zone begins near the Catholic cemetery on Buena 
Vista street, at the southern base of the Elysian Park hills, and trends 
in an almost westerly direction to a point north of West Lake; here 
it bends to N. 60° W. and extends into the region south of Colegrove. 
Two miles southwest of Colegrove, on the almost level Los Angeles- 
Santa Monica plain, is the field locally known as the Salt Lake (so 
named from the principal company operating there), which, though 
topographically isolated from the main Los Angeles field, is, never¬ 
theless, probably genetically related to it. In discussing this subject 
it has been deemed advisable to divide the productive territory into 
four parts, differentiated more or less sharply along structural lines. 
The area extending eastward from the Sisters’ Hospital to the eastern 
limit of the productive territory at the Catholic cemetery will be 
described as the eastern field; that extending from the hospital to a 
line passing northward through West Lake as the central field; that 
extending northwestward from the region about the Baptist college 
as the western field; and that on the Rancho la Brea, southwest of 
Colegrove, as the Salt Lake field. (See PL XIX.) 
DEVELOPMENT.a 
The development of the Los Angeles oil district has taken placA 
spasmodically, four periods of activity marking its history. The 
first period, during which the central field was first opened, covers 
the time from late in 1892 to 1895; the second, in which the eastern 
field was developed, includes 1896 and 1897; the third, or period of 
exploitation in the western field and the west end of the central field, 
embraces 1899 and 1900; and the fourth, which marks the develop¬ 
ment of the most important part of the district, the Salt Lake field, 
extends from 1901 up to the present time. 
The history of the Los Angeles oil wells, or, more properly speaking, of the Second 
Street Park oil field at Los Angeles, is as follows: For many years a small deposit of 
brea was known to exist on Colton street Douglas street, in the city of Los Angeles, 
and the brea was locally used for fuel. .. ibL Messrs. Doheny & Connon sunk a 4 by 
6 foot shaft, 155 feet deep, at the corner of Patton and State streets, close to the deposit 
of brea previously mentioned. The formation penetrated is sandy shale, with a few 
thin strata of siliceous or calcareous rock. Near the surface the oil was very heavy, 
but at about 7 feet deep it was found to be lighter and it seeped from the sides of the 
shaft. The oil exuded from porous material and from the surface planes of the hard 
strata. The formation was found to dip toward the south at an angle of about 40°. 
Excavation below a depth of 155 feet was prevented by gas. An 18-inch hole was 
then drilled in the bottom of the shaft and yielded 7 barrels of oil daily for several 
weeks. In July, 1894, the yield had decreased to 2 barrels of oil a day. In November, 
a The writer is largely indebted to the reports of W. L. Watts for data of a historical character used 
in this paper. 
