Wayfarrow

Petro

Ghost town · Kern County, California

Pond quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1930, 1:31,680)
Pond quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1930, 1:31,680) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Petro is a ghost town in Kern County, California. It is one of 50 former communities in Kern County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 2nd among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Petro as a historical populated place on the Pond topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 35.6963° N, 119.3304° W.

Key facts

USGS quadranglePond
Elevation285 ft
Nearest living townMcFarland, CA
Distance to it5.9 miles
GNIS feature ID1653154
Coordinates35.69634, -119.33039

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Petro is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is McFarland, CA (population 14,138), about 5.9 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 285 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Petro?

Petro is in Kern County, California, at 35.6963, -119.3304.

How many ghost towns are in Kern County?

Kern County, California has 50 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.