Buttonwillow, CA

Buttonwillow began as Buena Vista, then took the name of the lone buttonbush that marked an old trail across the San Joaquin Valley. The tree was a meeting place for Yokuts people and later a landmark for cattle drivers, and Miller & Lux eventually moved a ranch headquarters and store near it. A railroad siding turned the settlement into a shipping point for grain and livestock, while cotton farming became the main local work. Today Buttonwillow sits at the I-5 and State Route 58 crossroads, with the cotton fields, Elk Hills oil country, and the old buttonwillow tree all part of its west-Kern identity.