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Petroleum

Ghost town · Santa Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:24,000)
Santa Cruz quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Petroleum is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California. It is one of 17 former communities in Santa Cruz County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 16th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Petroleum as a historical populated place on the Santa Cruz OE W 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 36.9916° N, 122.1372° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleSanta Cruz OE W
Elevation552 ft
Nearest living townDavenport, CA
Distance to it3.3 miles
GNIS feature ID1872846
Coordinates36.99162, -122.13719

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What's there now

Petroleum is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Davenport, CA (population 537), about 3.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 552 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Petroleum?

Petroleum is in Santa Cruz County, California, at 36.9916, -122.1372.

How many ghost towns are in Santa Cruz County?

Santa Cruz County, California has 17 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.