Maricopa is a city in Kern County, California. Take a look below for 10 interesting and awesome facts about Maricopa, California, United States.

1. Maricopa is located 6.5 miles (10 km) south-southeast of Taft, at an elevation of 883 feet (269 m).

2. The population was 1,154 at the 2010 census, up from 1,111 at the 2000 census.

3. The Carrizo Plain is located to the northwest, and the enormous Midway-Sunset Oil Field, the third largest oil field in the United States, is adjacent on the north and east.

4. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), all of it land.

5. Maricopa is in the extreme southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley, on the first rise of land into the foothills of the Coast Ranges, with the Temblor Range, following the San Andreas Fault, trending northwest of town, and the San Emigdio Mountains to the southeast.

6. The climate of the area is hot and semi-arid, with summertime temperatures routinely exceeding 100 °F (38 °C). Freezes occur in the winter, with the mean period without freezes being about 275 days. About six inches of rain falls annually in Maricopa.

7. The first post office opened in 1901, and Maricopa incorporated in 1911. The city was named after the Maricopa Indians.

8. Maricopa Fire Department was established in 1910 with Chief F. W. Ball serving as the first fire chief. Maricopa Hospital opened on April 22, 1911 and the city was incorporated on July 25, 1911. Gary Biggerstaff was the chief of police when budget problems forced the city to close its police department in 1998. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department provided police services to the citizens of Maricopa from 1998 until 2006 when the city reopened its police department in the old building.

9. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on July 4, 2011, the Maricopa Police Department has become embroiled in a local controversy playing out through large signs posted on the city’s main thoroughfare. The police have been accused of racial profiling and “over-enforcement” regarding traffic violations and frequent towing of vehicles driven by drivers without proof of insurance or with license or license plate infractions. In mid-2011, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Jennie Pasquarella is quoted as saying, “Maricopa has been a shining example of impoundments gone wrong,” and “They’re essentially creating a racket to steal people’s cars.”

10. Police Chief Derek Merritt and other city officials have denied the charges.