Edison (formerly, Wade) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in the Tehachapi mountains of

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is located east-southeast of downtown

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

, at an elevation of . In 1902, the

Edison Electric Company General Electric Company (GE) was an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the years, the company had multiple divisions, including aerospace, energy, ...

built a substation on the site. The

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

arrived at Wade in 1903, and changed the name to Edison. In 1928 oil was found nearby, and the Edison Oil Field gradually developed, peaking in the 1950s. The community is within the administrative boundaries of the oilfield, and active wells surround the town.Kasline, Fred A. ''Edison Oil Field: California Division of Oil and Gas, Summary of Operations''. 1940. Vol. 26 p 12-18White, J. Lloyd. ''Edison Oil Field: California Division of Oil and Gas, Summary of Operations''. 1955. Vol. 41 No. 2, p 5-9 The Edison post office opened in 1903, closed in 1929, and re-opened in 1946.

Demographics

Edison first appeared as a

in the 2020 U.S. Census.

2020 Census

File:Aerial - Edison, CA 01.jpg, Aerial view of Edison from the east-northeast File:Edison, Kern County, California. The town of Edison, a potato town in a nearly developing large-scal . . . - NARA - 521781.jpg, Potato farm in Edison, 1940

References

Unincorporated communities in Kern County, California Populated places established in 1902 Unincorporated communities in California {{KernCountyCA-geo-stub