24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Taft, CA

Taft is a city in Kern County at the southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, incorporated on November 7, 1910, and named in 1909 for President William Howard Taft.

Taft began as "Siding Number Two" on the Sunset Railroad around 1900; when residents asked to name the station "Moro," the railroad refused because it was too close to Morro Bay and instead called it "Moron," from the Spanish word for a hillock — the name was changed to Taft after a fire burned much of the town.

Taft is one of the few remaining towns in the United States that exists almost exclusively because of nearby oil reserves, built directly between the Midway-Sunset and Buena Vista oil fields.

The super-giant Midway-Sunset oil field beside Taft has produced nearly 4 billion barrels of crude oil, and steam injection has been used since the 1960s to recover its thick, heavy oil.

The Lakeview Gusher of 1910, just south of Taft, blew out at up to 100,000 barrels a day and spilled about nine million barrels in total — the largest accidental oil spill in United States history.

Standard Oil of California once made Taft its operational headquarters, building the 11-C Camp company town with homes, a swimming pool, a clubhouse, and sports fields for thousands of its workers before moving its offices to Concord in 1968.

Taft's oil heritage is preserved at the West Kern Oil Museum on Wood Street, which displays a 1917 wooden derrick, and in the 37-foot-tall bronze West Kern Oilworker's Monument sculpted by Benjamin Victor.

Every five years Taft celebrates "Oildorado," a week-long festival dating to 1930 with oilfield skill contests, a parade, and a tradition that men must grow facial hair or buy a "Smooth Puss Badge" to avoid mock arrest by the Posse.

Taft has a desert climate with only about 5.39 inches of rain a year, roughly 113 days a year above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and a record high of 112 degrees set on July 11, 2008.

The 2020 census counted 8,546 people in Taft in 2,379 households, with about 58 percent of homes owner-occupied; a notable share of the population is institutionalized because of the federal Taft Correctional Institution south of town.