![Oil Islands](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5cd40d8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/848x477!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pbs.org%2Fvideo-assets%2FudlcYtW-asset-mezzanine-16x9-J6H2E07.jpg)
Back to Show
California's Gold with Huell Howser
Oil Islands
Season 10
Episode 1002
In Long Beach, Calif., there’s a 42-acre oilfield — offshore, in plain view of tourists, port traffic and beach lovers — with 175-foot-high drilling towers and 1,100 wells that penetrate a vast underground. It may well be the most unique and beautiful oil drill site in America. To drill for oil within site of a major city and do it in a way that would please the residents was and is revolutionary.
Support Provided By
Season
![Costa Mesa](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3ffed9c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pbs.org%2Fvideo-assets%2FJnZZk2J-asset-mezzanine-16x9-8S79z1R.jpg)
27:19
Huell visits Costa Mesa and sees how far its come from its start as a bean field.
![Norconian Resort](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a5e4db8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pbs.org%2Fvideo-assets%2Fu68nAhZ-asset-mezzanine-16x9-J1ABBSm.jpg)
27:49
Huell visits The Norconian Resort, which became a pre-eminent Naval Hospital during WWII.
![Aztec Wigwam](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/38eb6f2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pbs.org%2Fvideo-assets%2FXmEADsv-asset-mezzanine-16x9-YGvvAxO.jpg)
27:15
Huell travels back to a bygone era when he tours the Aztec Hotel and the Wigwam Motel.
![Wild Horse Sanctuary](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/08be85e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pbs.org%2Fvideo-assets%2FsdAtgB8-asset-mezzanine-16x9-cLPlyOZ.jpg)
26:47
Huell’s off to Shingletown for a visit to a remarkable Wild Horse Sanctuary.