Oil Worker Monument

Oil Worker Monument. History of Taft. , History of Taft , As Taft’s first 100 years is being celebrated in 2010, let’s look back to see from where we came. Taft got its start when the railroad laid tracks to Taft and beyond. Siding Number Two was where it all started along the tracks in the vicinity of 2nd and Supply Row. Railroad cars were being unloaded with supplies for the rapidly expanding oil production for miles along what was called the Midway Sunset Oil Field. Buildings began springing up, followed by houses, businesses, schools, and everything needed for a progressive city to start itself. Electricity and a water supply were brought in. The voters approved incorporation and Taft became a city on November 7, 1910. The railroad began subdividing, installing streets, sidewalks, gutters, and curbs. The City of Taft was taking shape. The downtown area was flooded with workers at all hours of the day, working 12-hours shifts. It is said Taft resembled a mining town that never slept. Those were the good times and the good times have never stopped. , , The Oilworker , When the news spread that oil had been discovered in the San Joaquin Valley of California, young men responded from all parts of our nation. They came from the farms of Missouri and Kansas, the ranches of Texas, the hills of West Virginia, and the mines of Pennsylvania. They were strong and rugged men, unskilled in their new jobs, but from these men came new ideas and innovation. They toiled in dangerous and dirty conditions with temperatures sometimes reaching over 120 degrees in the summer. There were no hard hats or other safety equipment that we use today. From these oil fields men took the ideas and technology around the world.