Reward, Kern County, California : Geography, History Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reward, Kern County, California

Unincorporated community in California, United States

35°19′21″N 119°40′45″W / 35.32250°N 119.67917°W / 35.32250; -119.67917CountryUnited StatesStateCaliforniaCountyKern CountyElevation

^[1]

1,276 ft (389 m)

Reward is an unincorporated community in western Kern County, California.^[1]

Geography

It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west-northwest of McKittrick,^[2] at an elevation of 1,276 feet (389 m) in the southern Temblor Range.^[1] Reward is located in the McKittrick Oil Field.^[2]

History

Reward was the location of the Aguaje de Santa Maria (Waterhole of Saint Mary) water stop on the 19th century El Camino Viejo in Alta California.^[3]

The first wooden oil derrick in Kern County was constructed at the future site of Reward in 1878, to drill for flux oil to mix with asphalt that was being mined in Asphalto and refined in McKittrick. The settlement of Reward was founded in 1907, its name derived from the discovery of oil at the site.^[4] A post office operating there from 1909 to 1937.^[2]^[4]

As of 2019, a small oil field is being developed near Reward: see photo dated 4-09-2019. Note active drill rig at right center.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Reward, Kern County, California
^ ^a ^b ^c Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 1096. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
^ Mildred Brooke Hoover, Douglas E. Kyle, Historic spots in California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1990, p.123
^ ^a ^b Salley, Harold E. (1977). History of California Post Offices, 1849-1976. The Depot. ISBN 0-9601558-1-3.