Taft, California
city in Kern County, California, United States
Taft (formerly Moron, Moro, and Siding Number Two) is a city in the foothills at the extreme southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California. Taft is located 32 miles (51 km) west-southwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 955 feet (291 m). The population was 8,546 at the 2020 census. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.3 square miles (39.6 km2).
It was named for President William Howard Taft in 1909.
History
The town began as Siding Number Two on the Sunset Railroad. According to a display at the West Kern Oil Museum, local residents asked the Southern Pacific Railroad if the station could be named Moro when the rails arrived in about 1900, but a railroad official declined because the name would be too easily confused with the coastal town of Morro Bay. Instead, the railroad directed the station be called Moron, a word which as yet had no association with lack of intelligence (cf. Spanish word for hillock, morón). Pictures of local businesses, including the Moron Pharmacy, hang in the museum.
The public source identifies “Taft, California” as city in Kern County, California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Taft, California and city.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Taft, California”, the useful work is to connect “city in Kern County, California, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q983611. VIAF identifies the subject as 123173609. The Library of Congress control number is n82032039. Authority coordinates are 35.142, -119.456. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1909 and 1900.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Taft, California” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.