![Atop Empire State- in construction; Chrysler Bldg & [Daily] News in middle foreground. (1931)](http://cdn1.retronaut.co/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Atop-Empire-State-in-construction-Chrysler-Bldg-Daily-News-in-middle-foreground.-1931--199x123.jpg "Balancing on the Empire State, 1920s")
Summerland oil piers near Santa Barbara, c. 1901-1903
Southern California's first actively-exploited oil field near the present-day neighborhood of Echo Park. Photo c. 1895-1901
Playa del Rey beach
Oil wells in Huntington Beach, 1935
Oil derrick in the middle of a Beverly Hills Road, 1940
Huntington BeachPlaya del Rey beach
Thank you to KCET, Nathan Masters, Orange County Archives, Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, USC Libraries, Frasher Foto Postcard Collection, Pomona Public Library
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This capsule was curated by Alex Butterworth
Interesting pictures, just a small point but the Beverly Hills 1940 shot is back-to-front; cars driving on the left and “SLOW” in the road backwards.
Now we get fracking wells. Some things don’t change.