California's First Drilled Oil Wells

Two oil-industry bodies co-placed this bronze in 1955, and it reads that way: a first, a shipment, well heads still standing. The state's own oil history is cooler. It calls the Union Mattole well of 1865 not commercial, and reports its first shipment to San Francisco as thirty barrels, or as six twenty-gallon casks. The boom lasted a year or two. The settlement took the name Petrolia in anticipation, in a valley whose Mattole people had been nearly wiped out in the killings of the early 1860s.

What the plaque says

California's First Drilled Oil Wells California's first drilled oil wells producing crude to be refined and sold commercially were located on the north fork of the Mattole River approximately three miles east of here. The old Union Mattole Oil Company made its first shipment of oil from here in June, 1865, to a San Francisco refinery. Many old well heads remain today. Historical Landmark No. 543 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Eureka Oil Information Committee and the Western Oil and Gas Association November 10, 1955

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Centerville Beach Cross — 18 mi
• Ferndale — 18 mi