After oil was discovered in Huntington Beach and Long Beach south of Los Angeles, oil wells popped up in their hundreds and pumped out oil for decades. This is a 1940 shot of Huntington Beach—not exactly the sun-dappled, picture-postcard vista of Californian beaches we usually think of.
I remember drives south to San Diego in the late 1940’s-50’s passing these oil derricks which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. Another site along the way was the so-called “Tin Can Beach” nearby. It is now Bolsa Chica State Beach, but there are no longer any tin cans.
Astonishing.