California's first oil refinery to operate on a commercial scale was erected in 1876. In 1875-1876, D. G. Scofield and his associates obtained California's first commercial production of crude petroleum in Pico Canyon, six miles northwest of this point, and built this refinery for the manufacture of petroleum products. It was restored by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1930 as a memorial to Scofield and his pioneer associates of the California Star Oil Works company, a predecessor of the Standard Oil Company of California.
