Oil Derrick

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Kern County is one of the top oil producing areas in the United States. Four oil fields in Kern County have each produced over one billion barrels of oil.

In 1899, the discovery of oil on land near the Kern River started an oil boom. The oil boom resulted in the construction of hundreds of wooden derricks north of Bakersfield over the next few years.

A cable tool drilling rig uses a cable or rope to raise and lower a large metal drill bit. The drill bit pounds on the ground breaking up soil and rock digging a cylindrical tube or well into the earth.

The Petroleum Production Pioneers, in cooperation with numerous oil companies and volunteers, constructed this replica of a cable tool drilling rig on the grounds of the museum in 1957.

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Constructing the Cable Tool Drilling Rig at the Museum, 1956.




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