 The Edison field was one of the last fields discovered in California during the boom period of the early 20th century.Unlike other fields alongside the Central Valley which either advertise their existence with tar seeps or with anticlinal hills which serve as a surface expression for the underlying oil-bearing structures, the Edison field is completely hidden underneath the valley floor.The discovery well for the Edison field was drilled by General Petroleum Corporation in July 1928; it produced of oil per day, an acceptable flow but no gusher; nevertheless it was sufficient to establish that an oil field lay below the flat farmland of the valley southeast of Bakersfield.