Well, Alamitos 1

The hill was chaparral and truck farms being subdivided for houses when Shell spudded a wildcat here on March 23, 1921. It blew in before dawn on June 23 at 3,114 feet, over the top of a 114-foot derrick, and a crowd of a few hundred was fifteen thousand by daylight. The hole caved and had to be cleaned out; the well was flowing about 590 barrels a day by the 25th. People who had bought lots to build on leased them for drilling instead, and the derricks went up with their legs crossing.

What the plaque says

One of the world's most famous wells, Alamitos No. 1, was started on March 23, 1921, and was completed June 25, 1921, at a depth of 3,114 feet, flowing 590 barrels of oil a day. This discovery well led to the development of one of the most productive oil fields in the world and helped to establish California as a major oil producing state. This monument commemorating Alamitos No. 1 is a tribute to the petroleum pioneers for their success here, a success which has, by aiding in the growth and expansion of the petroleum industry, contributed so much to the welfare of mankind. Dedicated May 3, 1952 Shell Oil Company The Petroleum Production Pioneers State Registered Landmark No. 580 Alamitos No. 1 Discovery Well recognized as an official Bicentennial Landmark. Placed by Signal Hill City Council, Signal Hill Bicentennial Commission, Mayor Keaton R. King, Vice-Mayor Nick A. Mekis, Councilman William F. Mendenhall, Councilman J. Ennis Neff, Councilman Gertrude A. Beebe, Commissioners Doris M. Miller, Marjorie E. Posner, William F. Mendenhall. Dedicated January 1976.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Puvungna — 2.3 mi
  The Acjachemen and Tongva place of creation: twenty-two acres of open ground on a university campus, still not in the hands of its people.
• Drum Barracks — 5.7 mi
  The Union Army built its Southern California headquarters in a county that had voted against Lincoln two to one, and stabled the Army camels here.
• The Banning Museum — 5.7 mi
  The man who made a harbor out of an open bay: freight, dredging, the first railroad in Southern California, and a cupola for watching ships.
• Domínguez Rancho Adobe — 5.9 mi
  The first Spanish land grant in California contained the whole harbor, and in 1846 fifty Californio lancers turned back three hundred Marines on it.

More markers nearby

• Long Beach Marine Stadium — 3.2 mi
• Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site — 3.6 mi
• Anaheim Landing — 5.4 mi
• Drum Barracks — 5.7 mi